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RECORDS OF THE PAST
■^HM-Ptr
RECORDS OF THE PAST
BEING ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS
OF THE
ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF EGYPT AND
WESTERN ASIA
NEW SERIES
EDITED BY A. H. SAYCE
Hon. LL.D. Dublin; Hon. D.D. Edinbukgh
VOL. II
Mults terricolis linguse, Cffilestibus una
LONDON
SAMUEL BAGSTER AND SONS, LIMITED
IS PATERNOSTER ROW
A. M-^9 7
^' CORNEL t^
«^-AC?i. ^•-.(^.--J^::iC- Jf*
PREFACE
The present volume of Records of the Past possesses
a melancholy interest. It contains the last literary-
monument of one of the most valued of my fellow-
workers, M. Arthur Amiaud, who died suddenly just
after completing the final pages of his translations of
the inscriptions of Tel-loh. No other Assyrian
scholar had so thoroughly mastered the secrets of the
non-Semitic language of ancient Chaldaea, and the
knowledge which has perished with him is for science
an irreparable loss. The hand that traced the
interpretation of the mysterious records of primeval
Shinar was not permitted to revise it in proof.
It will be seen that I have been able to redeem
my promise of editing the latest and most authorita-
tive translations of the early Egyptian texts, and I
am fortunate in having secured the help of Professor
Maspero, the most eminent of living Egyptologists,
for the work. I hope next year to be able to redeem
my other promise of bringing out two volumes during
the same year.
I must take this opportunity of correcting a
misreading which I have allowed to appear in two
VI PREFACE
passages of the last volume of the Records. The
name of the Hittite prince mentioned by the Vannic
king Menuas is not Sada-hadas, as it is given on
pages 97 and 165, but Sada-halis, as it is correctly
transcribed in the transliteration and translation of
the inscription itself (pp. 165, 166).
In the translations doubtful words and expressions
are followed by a note of interrogation, the preceding
word being put into italics where necessary. The
names of individuals are distinguished from those of
deities or localities by being printed in Roman type,
whereas the names of deities and localities are in
capitals.
A. H. SAYCE.
Queen's College, Oxford,
July 1889.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Inscription of Uni (of the Sixth Dynasty).
By Prof. Maspero, Member of the Institute i
II. The Adventures of Sinuhit (of the
Twelfth Dynasty). By Prof Maspero . 1 1
III. The Legend of the Expulsion of the
Hyksos. By Prof. Maspero . . 37
IV. The Stele of Thothmes IV (of the
Eighteenth Dynasty). By D. Mallet . 45
V. Tablets of Tel el-Amarna relating to
Palestine in the Century before the
Exodus. By the Editor . . . 57
VI. The Inscriptions of Telloh. By Arthur
Amiaud. ( Continued from Vol. J) . ■ 72
Vll. The Assyrian Chronological Canon. By
the Editor . . . . . .110
Vlll. The Standard Inscription of Assur-
NATSiR-PAL. By the Editor . 128
Vin CONTENTS
PAGE
IX. Specimens of Assyrian Correspondence.
By Theo. G. Pinches . . . .178
X. Akkadian Hymn to the Setting Sun. By
G. Bertin . . . . . .190
XI. The Moabite Stone. By Dr. A. Neubauer 194
XII. Table of the Egyptian Dynasties . . 204
XIII. List of Kings of Assyria . . . 205
XIV. Egyptian Calendar .... 208
Equivalents of the Hebrew Letters in the Trans-
literation OF Assyrian Names mentioned in
these Volumes.
N a,
3
b
i
?
T
d
n
h
1
U, V
t
z
n
kh
D
dh
1
h V
1
k
•?
/
D
m
I
n
D
's,s
V
e
f)
P
r
ts
p
i
1
r
E*
s, sh
n
t
N.B. — Those Assyriologists who transcribe CJ' by sh use s for D
The Assyrian e represents a diphthong as well as )}.
In the Introductions and Notes W. A. I. denotes The
Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia in five volumes
published by the Trustees of the British Museum.
^1
INSCRIPTION OF UNI (OF THE SIXTH
DYNASTY)
Translated by Prof. Maspero
y. This inscription adorned one of the walls of the
tomb which Uni had built for himself at Abydos in
the central part of the necropolis (Mariette : Abydos,
vol. ii. p. 41 ; Catalogue Ghieral, p. 84, No. 522).
It was discovered there by Mariette and transferred
to the Museum of Boulaq (Mariette : Notice des prin-
cipanx Monuments, 1864, pp. 286-287), where it now
bears the number 886 (Maspero : Guide du Visiteur,
pp. 209-2 11). E. de Rouge copied it there in 1865
and made an analysis of it, intermingled with trans-
lations, which he published in his Reclierches sur les
Monuments (pp. 1 17-128, 135-149, pi. vii., viii.)
His work served as a starting-point for the complete
translations of Birch (" Inscription of Una," in the
Records of tlte Past, prior series, ii. pp. 1-8), and the
partial translations of Maspero (Histoire ancienne des
Peuples de V Orient, 1875, pp. 88-92; 1886, pp. 81-
85) and of Brugsch (Geschichte Aegyptens, pp. 95-102).
The text has been published a second time, but some-
VOL. II B
RECORDS OF THE PAST
what incorrectly, by Marietta {Abydos, vol. ii. pp. 44-
49) ; it has again been edited, with the corrections of
Brugsch and Golenischeff, by Erman {Commentar zur
Insclirift des Una in Lepsius's Zeitschrift, 1882, pp.
1-29), together with a translation and a grammatical
commentary, some points in which have been slightly
modified by Erman in his work on Egypt [Aegypten,
pp. 688-690, et passiiii). Brugsch has devoted one
of the most interesting of his memoirs to the study
of the names of the Nubian populations contained
in our inscription {Die Negerstdmme der Una-Insthrift
in the Zeitschrift, 1882, pp. 30-36).
The inscription consists of 5 2 lines, of which the
first alone is horizontal and runs along the summit
of the wall like a sort of general title. On the right
side it has suffered a little, and the lines at the be-
ginning have lost almost all the characters at the top
and the bottom of them ; but only two or three of
these lacunce are impossible to fill up, and interrupt
the sense. Everywhere else, the expression is clear,
easy to comprehend, and the difficulties which it
offers to the interpreter result only from our present
ignorance of the exact signification of certain terms
peculiar to architecture, navigation, and the military
art at the remote epoch to which the inscription
belongs. The portions of the text which have been
restored are enclosed between brackets.
The stele which was found with this inscription
is in the Museum of Boulaq at Cairo, and has the
form of a false door : it is evidently the same which
INSCRIPTION OF UNI
was given to Uni by king Meriri Pepi, as stated
in the inscription. Mariette has given a de-
scription of the stele in his Catalogue General des
Monuments d' Abydos (p. 90, No. 529 ; cfer. J. and
E. de Rouge : Inscriptions, vol. i. pi. II.). The tomb
of Auu, the father of Uni, has been discovered at
Abydos (E. de Rouge : Recherches stir les Momivients,
p. 144, note i). Uni died before Miriniri, who is
the last king mentioned in his biography ; if, as I
have conjectured, he was born in the reign of Unas,
his age could not have exceeded sixty years.
THE INSCRIPTION OF UNI
[Royal offering to Osiris the lord of Busiris] in order
that there may be given to him a revenue in bread and
liquors, at every festival and each day, with an abundance
[of everything, a thousand loaves], a thousand cups of beer,
a thousand oxen, a thousand geese, a thousand ducks, a
thousand fowls, a thousand birds, a thousand cloths, a
thousand [pieces of linen, for] the prefect of the country
of the south, the guardian of Nekhni, the dictator of
Nekhaeit,^ sole friend, feudal vassal of Osiris Khonta-
MENTiT, [Uni ;]
[He says :]
[I was born xmder the Majesty of Unas. I was still a
youth] wearing the fillet under the Majesty of Teti,^ and
employed as superintendent of the treasury, when I was
promoted ^ to the inspectorship of the irrigated lands ot
Pharaoh. When I was chief of the secret chamber under
the Majesty of Pepi, his Majesty confers on me the dignity
of Friend (and) controlUng prophet of his pyramid ; then
when [I held this office] his Majesty made me Sabu,
guardian of Nekhni, [for his heart] was satisfied with me
above any other of his servants. I heard then all that
happened, I alone with a Sabu, clerk to the Porte, in every
secret affair, [and I executed all the writings] * which had
' Nekhni and Nekhabit are names applied to Eilithyia, to-day El-
Kab, and to tlie surrounding country.
'^ The commencement is conjecturally restored from an inscription
published by Champollion : Notices, vol. ii. p. 697. The name of King
Unas is introduced only conjecturally.
' Iri-ni Pirui-Aa S. huzu [khonti], literally ' ' I made an inspector, "
etc. Iri is used here in the same manner as in the phrase iri /limit, "to
take a wife," " to marry," literally " to make a wife."
^ I complete the passage thus ; nuki in m dn nib an sit, " I execute
INSCRIPTION OF UNI
to be executed in the name of the king whether for the
harem of the king or for the residence of the Six, so that I
satisfied the heart of the king more than any other of his
peers, (or) of his mamelouk nobles, more than any other of
his servants. [An order was also issued] by the Majesty
of my lord that a sarcophagus of white stone should be
brought to me from Roiu.'^ His Majesty sent a temple-
slave in a boat with the soldiers [the hewers of the stone
and the artisans] with orders to convey this sarcophagus
to me from Roiu ; and this sarcophagus comes with a
temple-slave in a large pontoon ^ from the royal administra-
tion, as well as its lid, a stele in the form of a gate, (to wit)
the frame, the two middle blocks, and the threshold ; ^ never
had anything like it been made for any other servant what-
ever ; but it happened that my wisdom pleased his Majesty
and that also my zeal pleased his Majesty and that also the
heart of his Majesty was satisfied v/ith me. Also from my
being Sabu, guardian of Nekhni, his Majesty made me
sole Friend, superintendent of the irrigated lands of the
Pharaoh * over the superintendents of the cultivated lands
who are there, and I acted to the satisfaction of his Majesty,
both when I had to keep guard behind the Pharaoh and
(when I had) to settle the royal itinerary, or to arrange the
peers, and I acted in all this to the satisfaction of his
Majesty above everything. When moreover one went to the
royal harem to inform against the great royal wife Amitsi, se-
cretly, his Majesty made me alone descend into it in order to
listen to business, no Sabu clerk of the Porte being there,
nor any peer except myself alone, because of (my) wisdom
every writing among them ... for the royal dwelling and the dwelling
of the Six," the pronoun sit referring to the feminine words Sutm-apit and
Hatt-ms which are found at the end of the sentence.
1 The quarries of Tourah, opposite the site of Memphis.
2 For the exact sense of the Egyptian words see Maspero, " De quelques
termes," in the Proceedings, May 1889.
* The class of vessel named satu is represented in Lepsius, ii. 76, \shere
the satu .^pahti of king Assi is seen transporting the sarcophagus of this
prince along with its lid. It is a pontoon without a mast, whose bridge
is so strengthened as not to yield under the weight of the blocks of stone
with which it is loaded.
^ [Pirui-da, literally ' ' the two great houses "or " palaces. " Compare
the designation of the Sublime-Porte. — Ed.]
RECORDS OF THE PAST
and my zeal which pleased his Majesty, because the heart
of his Majesty was satisfied with me ; it was I who wrote
everything down, I alone with a Sabu guardian of Nekhni.
Now my employment was that of superintendent of the
irrigated lands of the Pharaoh, and there never had been
any of this rank who had heard the secrets of the royal
harem, in former days, excepting me, when his Majesty
made me hear (them), because my wisdom pleased his
Majesty more than any other of his peers, more than any
other of his mamelouks, more than any other of his servants.
When his Majesty carried war to the district of the
nomad HirushAu, and when his Majesty formed an army
of several myriads, levied throughout the entire South,
southward starting from Elephantine, northward starting
from the Letopolitan nome,i in the country of the north,
in the two confines in their entirety, in each station between
the fortified stations of the desert, in Arotit a country of
the Negroes, in Zamu a country of the Negroes, in
Amamu a country of the Negroes, in Uauait a country of
the Negroes, in Qaau a country of the Negroes, in To-
TAM a country of the Negroes ^ ; his Majesty sent me at
the head of this army. There were generals in it, there
were mamelouks of the king of Lower Egypt in it, there
were sole Friends of the Pharaoh in it, there were in it
dictators and princes of the south and of the land of
the north,^ Golden Friends and superintendents of the
prophets of the south and of the land of the north,
prefects of the confines at the head of the militia of the
south and of the land of the north, cities and boroughs
^ Aait ; the symbol of the leg is badly drawn, but perfectly recognis-
able in the original, as Roug(5 saw from the beginning.
'^ On these populations of Nubia see the article of Brugsch, ' ' Die
Negerstamme der Una-Inschrift," in Lepsius's Zeitschrift, 1882, pp. 30-
5 The term hi-top which I render by • ' dictator "or " podestA " is pecu-
liar to the governors and feudal lords of the nomes of Upper Egypt, that
oi Hiqa-hdit or "prince" being reserved for the governors and feudal
lords of Lower Egypt. The titles which follow— ■■ Friends " "superin-
tendents of the prophets "—are usually attached to the preceding and
confer on those who bear them religious authority over the priests of the
nome which they govern.
INSCRIPTION OF UNI
which they governed, as well as negroes from the regions
mentioned (above), and nevertheless it was I who laid
down the law for them — although my employment was that
of superintendent of the irrigated lands of the Pharaoh
with the title belonging to my office ^ — so that each of them
obeyed like all the rest,^ and each of them took with him
what he needed as regards bread and sandals for the journey,
and each of them took beer from every town, and each of
them took every kind of small cattle from every individual.
I led them to Amihit, SibrinIhotpu, Uarit of Horu nib-
MAIT ; ^ then being in this locality [I marshalled them, I
regulated] everything and I counted the number of this
army which no servant had ever counted (before). This
army marched prosperously * ; it shattered ^ the country of
the HiRUSHAU. This army marched prosperously ; it de-
stroyed the country of the Hirushau. This army marched
prosperously ; it conquered their fortresses." This army
marched prosperously ; it cut down their fig-trees and their
vines. This army marched prosperously ; it set fire to
the [houses of] the inhabitants.' This army marched pros-
perously ; it slew their soldiers by myriads. This army
marched in peace ; it led away captive ^ a very great num-
ber of the inhabitants of the country, and his Majesty
^ Literally " by the right (ni muti) of my place." The phrase follow-
ing is not yet so clear as one could wish. It seems to enumerate what
Uni did to " make the law " {iri sokheru) for those who were above him-
self in rank and whom nevertheless he commanded.
^ Literally " to put the one of them like all his seconds."
2 Three localities on the eastern frontier of the Delta, whose sites are
unknown.
■• Literally "in peace" {m hotpu), answering to the salutation of the
modern Egyptian fellahin, bi-ssaldmat.
^ Bi literally signifies " to break up with the pick."
^ Uonit, Coptic KOK, "mound."
' I have restored the text from a passage in an inscription of Usir-
tasen III, where analogous raids are described (Lepsius : Denkmdkr,
ii. pi. 136, lines 14-16).
s The expression is in-sokit-onkhu, literally ' ' among those who had
been struck alive." It refers us to a barbarous mode of warfare in which
no prisoners were taken except those who had been struck by the stone
mace, — a weapon which serves as a determinative of the verb soku, — and
whom their wound must have left half dead on the field of battle. They
were called ' ' the living-stricken "in opposition to those who had been killed
by the mace.
RECORDS OF THE PAST
praised me because of this above everything. His Majesty
sent me to lead this army five times, in order to penetrate ^
into the country of the Hiru-shau, as often as they revolted
against this army, and I acted to the satisfaction of his
Majesty in this above everything. Then as it was said
that there were rebels among those barbarians who'extended
as far as towards Tiba,^ I sailed in ships with this army,
I attacked the coasts of this country to the north of the
country of the Hiru-shau ; then this army being on the
march, I went and overthrew them all, and I slew all the
rebels among them.
When I was at the great House with the right of carry-
ing the wand and the sandals, the Pharaoh Mirinri made
me governor-general of the South, southward starting from
Elephantine (and) northward as far as the Letopolitan
nome, because my wisdom pleased his Majesty, because my
zeal pleased his Majesty, because the heart of his Majesty
was satisfied with me : when then I was invested with the
right of carrying the wand and the sandals, his Majesty
favoured me therefore (giving me part of) the cattle intended
for the palace ; when I was in my place I was above all his
peers, and all his mamelouks and all his servants, and this
dignity had never been conferred on any servant whatever
before. I filled to the satisfaction of the king my part of
superintendent of the South, so as to be allowed to stand at
his side second (in rank) to him, accomplishing all the duties
of an engineer, judging all causes that there were to judge
' Teru-to is in its origin a nautical term, literally " to strike," " dash
against the ground," borrowed from the manoeu\Teing of vessels on the
Nile.
^ On this name, see Maspero : Notes in Lepsius's Zcitschrift, 1883, p.
64; and Piehl : I'aria in the Zeilschrifi, 1888, p. iii, who has not been
able to road the characters composing the name. Perhaps we may identify
it, as Krall does [Studien zitr Geschichte des AUen ALgyptens, iii. p. 22),
with the name of Tebui met with in a text at Edfu (Dumichen : Tcm-
peliiischriften, i. pi. Ix.xiii. 1. 2, and Die Onsen dcr libyschen Wiiste, pi. xvi.
e), which Bnigsch (Reise nach der Grossen Oase, p. 92) does not know where
to loc-ilo. If the identification is correct, we can conclude that Tebui,
associated as it is with Amit and the north-east of Egypt, was a canton
situated beyond Lake Mcnzaleh ; the expedition of Uni would have been
made on the lake, not on the sea. Possibly there may also be a reference
to the arm of the sea which extended to the Bitter Laices.
INSCRIPTION OF UNI
for the royal administration in this south of Egypt, as second
judge, at every hour appointed for judgment for the royal ad-
ministration in this south of Egypt as second judge ; regu-
lating as governor all there was to do in this south of
Egypt, and never had anything like (this) taken place in
this south of Egypt before ; and I did all this to the satis-
faction of his Majesty accordingly. His Majesty sent me
to Abhait,! to bring back the sarcophagus (called) the Coffer
of the Living, with its lid, as well as the true and precious
pyramidion of the pyramid (called) " KhAnofir mistress of
Mirinri." His Majesty sent me to Elephantine to bring
a stele in the form of a false door, together with its base of
granite, as well as the portcullis and the framework of
granite [for the passage of the pyramid], (and) to bring back
the gates and the thresholds of the exterior chapel of the
pyramid " Khanofir mistress of Mirinrri." I returned with
them to the pyramid Khanofir of Mirin-ri in six galliots,
three pontoons, three barges, (and) a man of war, — never
had there been a man of war at Abhait or at ElephantinI:;
so all things that his Majesty had ordered me (to do) were
accomplished fully as his Majesty had ordered them. His
Majesty sent me to Hatnueu ^ to transport a large table of
offerings of alabaster. I brought this table of offerings
down [from the mountain] : as it was impossible in Hat-
NUBU to despatch (it) along the course of the current in
this galliot, I cut a galliot out of the wood of the acacia-
sont, 60 cubits long and 30 cubits broad ; I embarked the
1 7th day of the third month of Shomu, and although there
was no water over the sand-banks of the river I reached the
pyramid Khanofir of Mirin-rt prosperously ; I was there
with [the table of offerings] without fail according to the
order which the majesty of my lord had deigned to com-
mand me. His Majesty sent me to excavate five docks (?) in
the South and to construct three galliots and four pontoons
of acacia-sont of Uauit ; now the negro princes of the
^ A locality in the vicinity of Assuan, wliere there were quarries of gray
granite.
- The modern Bandb el~Hammam, where there are quarries of marble
on the right bank of the Nile in the neighbourhood of Siut (Brugsch .
History of Egypt, 2d Edit., vol. i. p. 124).
RECORDS OF THE PAST
countries of Arotit, Uauait, Aamu, (and) Maza felled the
wood for that purpose, and I accomplished it all in only
one year, the transportation to the water and the loading
of large quantities of granite for the pyramid Khanofir
of Mirin-ri ; ^ and moreover I caused a palace to be con-
structed for each of these five docks (?), because I venerate,
because I exalt, because I adore above all the gods, the
souls of the king Mirin-ri, living for ever, because I have
been (raised) above everything according to the order of
which his double has given unto me, even to me who am the
beloved of his father, the lauded of his motlier, the magnate
in his city, the delighter of his brethren, the governor in
actual command of the South, the vassal of Osiris, Uni.
^ ^ These blocks of granite are probably those which still obstruct the
passage of the pyramid of Mirin-ri (Maspero : La Pyramidede Mirin-ri
I in the Kecueil, vol. ix. p. 179).
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT (OF
THE TWELFTH DYNASTY)
Translated by Prof. Maspero
The Berlin Papyrus No. i, purchased by Lepsius in
Egypt and published by him in the Denkmdler aiis
Aegypten imd Ethiopien, vi. pi. 104-107, is injured
at the beginning. In its present condition it contains
312 lines of text. The first 179 lines are vertical ;
then come 96 lines (180-276) which are horizontal ;
but from line 277 to the end the scribe has returned
to the system of vertical columns. The first 40
lines that are preserved have suffered more or less
from wear and tear; five of them (i, 13-15, 38)
present lacunae which I could never have succeeded
in filling up, had I not had the good fortune to
discover at Thebes a new manuscript. The end is
intact and concludes with the well-known formula :
" It is completed from its commencement to its
termination as has been found in the book." The
writing, very clear and bold in the vertical portions,
becomes clumsy and confused in the horizontal por-
tions ; it is full of ligatures and rapidly-written forms
which at times render its decipherment difificult.
RECORDS OF THE PAST
The Berlin Papyrus has been analysed and
translated by Chabas : Le Papyrus de Beidin, rkits
d'il y a qtiatre mille ans and PantMon litt&aire, vol. i.,
in part only ; by Goodwin in full in Frazer's
Magazine, 1865, pp. 185-202, and in a separate
form under the title of Tlie Story of Saneha (Williams
and Norgate, 1865); this translation was corrected
by the author in Lepsius's ZeitscJirift (1872, pp.
ro-24), and reproduced in the former series of
Records of the Past, vol. vi. pp. 1 3 1 - 1 5 o. Maspero
transcribed it in hieroglyphics and translated it in
French: Le Papyrus de Berlin No. i (1874-76), in
the Melanges d'Archklogie ^gyptienne et assyrienne,
vol. iii. pp. 68-82, 140 sqq. ; partly reproduced with
corrections in the Histoire ancienne des peiiples de
r Orient, 4th edit., pp. 97, 98, 101-104, and in full in
the Contes Egyptiens, 2d edit., pp. 87-130. Dr. H.
D. Haigh has examined the historical and geo-
graphical data contained in the story in an article in
Lepsius's Zeitschrift, 1875, pp. 78-107, and Prof
Erman has inserted a short analysis of it in his
book : Aegyptcn imd aegyptisches Leben ini Altertum
(1885-88), pp. 494-497-
We possess on an ostrakon in the British Museum
(No. 5629) the duplicate of a part of the text. This
ostrakon, first mentioned by Dr. Birch in his memoir
on the Abbott Papyrus, has been published by him,
in facsimile, in his Inscriptions in tJic Hieratic and
Demotic character, from the Collections of the British
Museum (1868), pi. xxiii. p. 8.
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT 13
The identity ot the text on the ostrakon with
that of the last hnes of the Berhn Papyrus was
pointed out for the first time by Goodwin : On
a Hieratic Inscription upon a stone in the British
Museum (Lepsius's Zeitschrift, 1872, pp. 20-24),
where the transcription and translation of the text
are given at full length. The script belongs to the
age of the twentieth dynasty, and this fact is
important, as it proves that the story, composed at
the latest in the epoch of the sixteenth or seventeenth
dynasty, remained a classic for long afterwards.
As the version given on the ostrakon differs in
certain details from that of the Papyrus, it will be
useful to insert here a complete translation of it : —
" [I was allowed] to construct [a pyramid] of stone, in
the circle of the pyramids.
The stone-cutters cut the tomb, and divided its walls ;
the architects designed them ; the superintendent of the
sculptors sculptured them ; the superintendent of the works
in the necropolis traversed the country (for) all the furniture
with which I furnished this tomb. I allotted peasants to it,
and there were lakes, fields (and) gardens in its domain, as
in the case of Friends of the highest rank. [There was] a
statue of gold with a silver-gilt hilt, which the sons of the
king made for me, rejoicing to do so for me ; for I was in
favour with the king until the day arrived when one attains
the other bank.
It is ended prosperously in peace."
The portion wanting at the commencement has
been found at Thebes on an ostrakon, picked up on
the 6th of February 1886 in the tomb of Sonnozmu.
It is a fragment of limestone, broken in half, more
14 RECORDS OF THE PAST
than three feet in length and about seven inches in
breadth, covered with hieratic characters of somewhat
large size, punctuated with red ink and divided into
paragraphs like most of the MSS. of the epoch of
the Ramessids. On the back, two lines, unfortunately
almost illegible, give us the name of a scribe which
I cannot decipher, probably the name of the person
who wrote the text. The fracture is not recent.
The limestone has been broken at the very moment
of its introduction into the tomb, and the act has
not been accomplished without injury to the inscrip-
tion ; some splinters of the stone have disappeared
and have carried portions of words away with them.
Most of these lacunse can be filled up without
difficulty. The text is very incorrect, like that of
all works intended for the use of the dead. Many
of the variants presented by it result from faulty
readings of the original manuscript ; the scribe could
not read with accuracy the archaic style of writing.
The ostrakon has been published by Maspero : Les
premieres lignes des Mhiioires de Sinoukit, restitutes
d'apres I'Ostracon 27,^/p dii mush de Boulaq, with
two plates in facsimile in the M^moires de I'Institut
igyptien, ii. pp. 1-23.
The discovery of this new document allows us to
reconstruct the route followed by Sinuhit in his
flight. He left the camp on the Libyan frontier in
the land of the Timihu, thus starting from the west
and turning his back on the " Canton of the
Sycomore." According to Brugsch [Dictionnaire
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT 15
geographique, p. 53), Nuhit, "the Canton of the
Sycomore," is the Panaho of the Copts, the Athribis
of the Greeks, the modern Benha el-Assal. This
identification, however, falls of itself, since Nuhit is
mentioned at the very beginning of the journey, and
consequently must have been on the western bank
of the Nile, whereas Benha is on the eastern. I had
at first considered the " Canton of the Sycomore " as
a mode of designating the whole of Egypt. But we
have long been acquainted with a Nuhit or Pa-nib-
nuhit, which appears to have been in the first instance
only a quarter of Memphis, and subsequently to have
denoted the whole of Memphis (Brugsch, Diction. G^og.,
pp. 330-332). The " Canton of the Sycomore" is
probably this " Quarter of the Sycomore," and
Sinuhit, the son of the Sycomore, the Memphite, in
declaring that he turns his back on Nuhit, simply
means to tell us that he departs from Memphis, his
native place, to go to Shi-Snofrui. The " Wady of
Snofrui " is not otherwise known. Brugsch, however,
identifies it with the Myekphorite nome of Herodotos
(iii. 166), thanks to a pronunciation Mui - hik -
Snofru, borne according to him by the characters
which compose the name {Diction. G^og., p. 54). The
position occupied by this town in the itinerary leads
me to look for it between the Libyan desert,
Memphis, and the city of Khri-Ahu or the Egyptian
Babylon, about a day's journey from this latter and
perhaps in the vicinity of the pyramids of Gizeh and
Abu-Ro^sh. When the evening arrived, Sinuhit
i6 RECORDS OF THE PAST
approached Khri-Ahu, crossed the Nile, and resumed
his journey, passing eastward of the country of
lauku. This country was hitherto unknown ; it is,
I believe, the district of the stone-cutters, all the
region of quarries which extends from Tourah to the
desert along the Gebel Ahhmar or " Red Mountain."
Thence Sinuhit marched on foot as far as one of the
fortified posts which protected Egypt on this side,
between Abu-Zabel and Belbeis. Beyond this, he
mentions only Puteni and Qimoiri. Brugsch
identifies Puteni with a country of Pat which he has
met with on a monument of the Saitic period, and
of which the modern city of Belbeis would represent
the centre {Diction. G^og., pp. 54, 55). The great
Ptolemaic stele discovered by Mr. Naville at Tel
el-Maskhuta furnishes some data for determining
pretty exactly the position of Qimoiri. It contains
a name Qimoir, which Mr. Naville has identified,
with good reason, with the Qimoiri of the story of
Sinuhit {The Store-city of Pithom and the route of the
Exodus, pp. 21, 22). Ptolemy Philadelphus built
here the city which he called Arsinoe after his sister,
which became one of the emporia of Egyptian trade
with the Red Sea. Mr. Naville places Arsinoe, and
consequently Qimoiri, near the modern el-Maghf&r
in the heart of the ancient Gulf of Suez. This site
would suit our narrative admirably ; after having
quitted Puteni, Sinuhit would have plunged into the
desert, towards the north-east, and would have lost
himself in the sands in his endeavour to reach Qimoiri.
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT 17
Beyond this point he entered the country of
Edim^ or Eduma, in which Chabas has recognised
the land of Edom (^Les Papyrus de Berlin, pp. 39,
75, 76). The scribe states expressly that it was a
canton of the Upper Tonu. Tonu accordingly must
enclose at least the district between the Dead Sea
and the Sinaitic Peninsula. The prince of Tonu
gives the Egyptian hero a very rich district, Aaa,
or better Ala, the name of which denoted a species
of plant, and recalls that of Alan, ^an, given by the
geographers of the classical epoch to the cantons
bordering on the Gulf of Akabah. Sinuhit remained
there some years in the company of the nomad
archers or Sittiu ; on his return to Egypt, he was
received by the Egyptian garrison at the frontier
station of Hriu-horu, " the roads of Horus," that is to
say, of Pharaoh, who was identified with Horus :
where this locality was I cannot say.
Five years of labour have allowed me to transcribe
and translate this difficult text. I believe that the
narrative portion of it may be considered as entirely
explained in almost every word. The petitions,
letters, and discourses with which the story is filled,
still present considerable difficulties. Many details
will doubtless have to be modified in the approaching
future.
VOL. II
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT
(TWELFTH DYNASTY)
The hereditary prince, the man of the king in his quality
of sole Friend,' the jackal who makes the round of the
frontiers to guard the country, the sovereign of the country
of the SiTTiu, the veritable cousin of the king who loves
his lord,^ the servant Sinuhit says :
As for me, I am the servant of his master, the slave of
the king, the superintendent of the palace, the hereditary
prince honoured with the favour of the queen Usirtasen, one
of the intimates ^ of the royal son Amenemhait, in his
residence. In the year XXX, the 2d month of Shait, the
7th (day), the god entered his double horizon, the king
Shotphttrt ascended to heaven,* and when he had united
himself with the solar disk the gods rejoiced at the event.
Within the palace there was nothing but distressed and
mourning people ; the great gates were sealed ; the courtiers
^ The Friends occupied the highest posts in the court of the Pharaoh ;
in the Papyrus Hood of the British Museum they are placed in the seventh
grade after the king. They were divided into several groups : the ' ' sole
Friends," the " Friends of the Seraglio," the "golden Friends," and the
"young," whose exact position cannot be determined. The title con-
tinued to be used in the court of the Ptolemies, and spread throughout the
Macedonian world (see Maspero, £tudes dgyftiennes, ii. pp. 20, 21).
^ This introduction includes among the ordinary Egyptian titles that of
"sovereign of the country of the Sirriu," or nomad archers of the
Sinaitic Peninsula and the adjoining desert. Sinuhit had been chief of a
tribe among them, and even after his return to Egypt, continued to bear
the title at the court of the Pharaoh. The fact is a new one, which
deserves to be noted by Egyptologists.
^ Literally "he who is among those who join the dwelling-house with
the royal son," that is to s.^y, one of those who have the right of hving in
the same house as the royal son.
■* That is to say, ' ' died. "
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT
sat crouching in sign of mourning, the men were overcome
by dolour and silence. Now his majesty had despatched an
army to the country of the Timihu;^ his eldest son Usir-
tasen commanded it, forcefully he marched, he took prisoners
alive among the Timihu as well as all their innumerable
cattle. The Friends of the Seraglio sent people to the region
of the west to inform the new king of the regency which had
befallen them unexpectedly in the Palace.^ The messengers
found him and reached him at nightfall ; whereas running
was not sufficiently rapid, the Hawk flew with his servants ^
without informing the army, and as all the royal sons who
were in the army were in the field, none of them was
summoned. Now as for me, I was there, I heard the words
which He uttered on this matter, and I felt myself sinking ;
my heart palpitated, my arms drooped, the fear of the king
smote all my limbs ; I wondered as I crept along where I
could find a place wherein to hide myself ; * I flung myself
into the midst of the thickets to wait (there) until they.^ had
passed. Then I turned towards the south, not with the
wish of reaching the palace, for I did not know whether
war had broken out,^ and without even pronouncing a wish
to live after the (former) sovereign, I turned my back on the
(Canton of the) Sycomore. I reached Shi-Snofru and
passed the night there on the soil of the field. I started
again at daybreak and joined a man who was standing in the
' The Berber tribes inhabiting the Libyan desert, to the west of
Egypt.
2 On the death of the king, the Friends of the Seraglio had to undertake
the duties of a regency during the absence of the heir.
'' ' • The hawk who flies " is, according to Egyptian idiom, the new king,
identified with the hawk-god Haroiri, " Horus the elder," or Har-si-isit,
" Horus the son of Isis. "
* Sinuhit avoids telling us by what accident he found himself in a posi-
tion to hear, unlike every one else, the news which the messenger had
brought to the new king. We do not know whether the Egyptian law
decreed death to the wretch who had committed such an act of indiscretion,
even though it might have been involuntary ; all we know is that Sinuhit
feared for his life and determined upon flight.
5 That is, the king and his attendants.
^ This passage must allude to t civil war. In Egypt, as in all Oriental
countries, a change of ruler often brings with-it a revolt ; the princes who
have not been chosen to succeed their father taking up arms against their
more fortunate brother.
RECORDS OF THE PAST
middle of the road ; he implored my mercy, for he was afraid
of me. Towards supper-time I approached the city of
Khri-Ahu,^ and crossed the water on a barge without a
rudder. I quitted the country of the west and passed over
the eastern territory of Iauku to the domain of the goddess
HiRiT the mistress of the Red Mountain;^ then I pro-
ceeded on foot straight towards the north, and I reached
the walls of the prince, which he has constructed to repel
the SiTTiu and to destroy the Nomiu-Shaiu ; I remained
in a crouching posture among the bushes, for fear of being
seen by the guard, relieved each day, which keeps watch
from the summit of the fortress. I proceeded on my way
at nightfall, and at dawn I reached Puteni and directed my
steps to the Wady of QimoIri.^ Then thirst fell and darted
upon me ; my throat rattled and contracted and I already
said to myself: "It is the taste of death," when I rallied
my heart and recalled my strength ; I heard afar the lowing
of cattle. A Sitti perceived me and recognised from my
appearance that I came from Egypt. Behold he gave me
water and boiled some milk for me ; I went with him to
his tribe. They wished to give me a territory out of their
territory, but I departed at once and hurried to the country
of Edima.*
When I had passed a year there, Amu-anshi ^ — he is
the prince of the Upper ToNU— bade me come and he
said to me : " Dwell with me ; thou shalt hear the language
of Egypt.'' He said this because he knew my worth and
had heard of my merits, according to the testimony given
of me by the Egyptians who were in the country.^ This is
what he said to me : " What is the reason on account of
which thou art come hither? Is it that there has been a
death in the palace of the king of the two Egypts, even of
' Babylon, now Old Cairo.
2 [The Gebel Ahhmar, eastward of Cairo. — Ed. ]
' For the position of Qimolri, see the Introduction.
' Edom.
" [The first part of the name is probably to be identified with the Hebrew
dyom, " terrible, " whence the name of the Emim (Gen. xiv. 5; Deut. ii.ii),
tfie second part of the name being perhaps 'anash, "to punish "or " fine."
—Ed.'\
" Probably refugees from Egypt, like Sinuhit himself.
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT
Shotphitri,! without our having known what has passed on
this occasion ? " I began to celebrate the king in a poeti-
cal effusion : "When I came from the country of the Timihu
and my heart found for itself a new home, if I failed,^ it
was not remorse for a fault which sent me on the paths
of a fugitive ; I had not been negligent, my mouth had
uttered no biting speech, I had listened to no perverse
counsel, my name had not been heard in the mouth of the
magistrate. I know not how I can explain what has led
me into this country ; it is as it were by the will of God,
for ever since the time when this land of Egypt was as it
were in ignorance of this beneficent god [the king] the fear
of whom is spread among foreign nations, like Sokhit ^ in a
year of pestilence, I have declared to him my thought and
replied to him : Save us ! * Behold now his son enters
the palace in his place and has undertaken the direction of
the affairs of his father. He is a god who verily has no
second ; none is before him. He is a master of wisdom,
prudent in his designs, beneficent in his disposition, at whose
good pleasure one goes and comes, for by his ability he
subdues foreign regions, and even when his father was still
1 The question of the prince of Tonu, designedly somewhat obscure,
was quite natural, since we know that Amenemhait I had fallen a victim
to a palace conspiracy. Amu-anshi asks if Sinuhit has not been implicated
in some attempt of the kind and has in consequence been compelled to
fly from Egypt,
2 The text is so mutilated here that I cannot guarantee the sense. The
part of the phrase which I translate * ' and my heart found for itself a new
liome" signifies literally "my heart was renewed there for me." The
heart of Sinuhit was Egyptian ; by renewing itself it made him an Asiatic
in the land of Tonu. Further on the hero is regarded as a Sitti.
' Sokhit or Sokhmit, long confounded with Pakhit, was one of the chief
goddesses of the Egyptian Pantheon. She belonged to the triad of Mem-
phis and was entitled "the great friend of Phtah. " She was a lion or
a goddess with the head of a lion ; with the head of a cat she was called
Bastit and was adored at Bubastis.
'' Sinuhit here answers the question of the prince of Tonu, as to whether
his exile was not due to complicity in a plot against the life of the king.
His flight was a fatality and he had served his sovereign from the period
when he had not yet been recognised by all Egypt, and had prayed him
to save his unhappy country, distracted by civil war, as we learn from other
documents. Then the better to prove that he could never have mixed in
any plot, he plunges into an eulogy of the new Pharaoh Usirtasen I. The
exaggeration of the eulogy becomes a proof of loyalty and innocence.
RECORDS OF THE PAST
in the interior of his palace, it was he who reaHsed what his
father had determined should be accomplished. He is a
hero who verily works with his sword, a champion who has
no rival ; we see in him one who rushes against the bar-
barians and bursts upon the pillagers. He is a hurler of
the javelin who makes feeble the hands of the enemy ; those
whom he strikes can no longer lift the buckler. He is a
fearless (hero) who crushes the skulls (of his foes) ; none
has stood before him. He is a rapid runner who destroys
the coward ; none is able to run after him. He is a
heart resolute in its season. He is a lion who strikes with
the claw ; never has he surrendered his arms. He is a
heart closed to pity ; when he sees the multitudes he lets
nothing remain behind him. He is a hero who flings him-
self forward when he sees resistance, he is a soldier who
rejoices when he flings himself on the barbarians ; he seizes
his buckler, he leaps, he has never had need to repeat his
blow, he slays without its being possible to turn aside his
lance, and even without his stretching his bow, the barbari-
ans fly his two arms like greyhounds, for the great goddess ^
has granted unto him to combat those who know not his
name, and if he attains (the prey) he lets nothing remain.
He is a favourite who has known marvellously how to
acquire love ; his country loves him more than itself and
rejoices in him more than in its own god ; men and women
hasten at his summons. As king he governs since he was
in the egg ; ^ he himself, since his birth, is a multiplier of
births, he is also an unique being, of the divine essence,
by whom this earth rejoices at being governed. He is an
enlarger of frontiers who will take the lands of the south,
but covets not the lands of the north ; on the contrary, he
has acted against the chiefs of the Sittiu and to destroy
the Nomiu-Shaiu.^ Should he come here, let him know
thy name by the homage thou wilt address to his majesty !
^ One of the titles given to Sokhit in lier warlike character.
- That is, since he was in the womb of his mother.
' The nomad population which inhabited tlie desert to the east of
Egypt. They are elsewhere called Hriu-Shftiu, the "masters of the
sands." The name o^ Nomiu-Shdiu appears to signify " one who is lord
of the sands."
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT 23
For does he not do good to the foreign country which
obeys him?
The chief of Tonu answered me : " May the government
of Egypt be fortunate, and may its prosperity be of long
duration ! While thou art with me I will do good to thee ! "
He set me above his children, marrying me to his eldest
daughter, and he granted that I should choose for myself
in his domain, among the best of what he possessed on the
frontier of a neighbouring country. It is an excellent
country ; Aia is its name.^ There are figs in it and grapes;
its wine is more plentiful than water ; abundant is the milk,
numerous the olives and all the products of its trees; there
are corn and meal without Hmit and every kind of cattle.
It was noble, indeed, what he conferred on me, when the
prince came to invest me (with the government), appointing
me tribal 'prince in the best part of his country. I had daily
rations of bread and wine for each day, cooked meat, roast
fowl, together with the game that I caught or that was placed
before me, over and above what my dogs brought from the
chase. Plenty of butter ^ was made for me and boiled milk
of every sort. I passed many years (there); the children
I had became strong, each ruling his tribe. When a
traveller went and returned from the interior, he turned
aside from his road to visit me, for I rendered services to
all the world. I gave water to the thirsty, I set on his
journey the traveller who had been hindered from passing
by, I chastised the brigand. The Sittiu ^ who departed
afar to strike and to repel the princes of the foreign countries
I commanded, and they marched, for the prince of Tonu
allowed that I should be during long years the general of
^ For the locality see the Introduction.
^ The word has been left blank in the manuscript of Berlin. Very
probably it was illegible in the original papyrus, from which the copy of
the story we now possess was made, the scribe having preferred to insert
nothing rather than fill up the lacuna on his own authority. My restora-
tion is suggested by the juxtaposition of the words : ' ' boiled miUc of every
sort."
^ Literally "the archers." It is the generic name given by the Egyptians
to the nomad populations of Syria in opposition to the Montiu or agricul-
tural population. [The latter were the Perizzites or ' ' fellahin " of the Old
Testament. — Ed. ]
24 RECORDS OF THE PAST
his soldiers. Every country towards which I marched,
when I had made my invasion, they trembled on the pastures
beside their wells ; I seized their cattle, I removed their
vassals and I carried away their slaves, I slaughtered their
population ;i (the country) lay at the mercy of my sword,
my bow, my marches, my plans well-conceived and glorious
for the heart of my prince. Thus he loved me when he
knew my valour, making me chief of his children, when he
saw the vigour of my two arms.
A hero of Tonu came to defy me in my tent ; it was a
hero who had no rivals, for he had destroyed them all. He
exclaimed: "Let Sinuhit combat with me, for he has not yet
smitten me," and he flattered himself that he would take my
cattle for the use of his tribe. The prince deliberated
thereupon with me. I said : " I know him not. Certainly
I am not his brother, I keep myself at a distance from his
abode ; have I ever opened his door or cleared his fences ?
He is some jealous fellow who is envious at seeing me and
who fancies himself summoned to despoil me of cats, of she-
goats as well as of cows, and to throw himself on my bulls,
on my sheep, and on my oxen, in order to take them for
himself. If he is a wretch who thinks of enriching himself
at my expense, not a Beduin and a Beduin skilled in
fighting, then let him manage the matter with judgment!
But if he is a bull who loves the battle, a choice bull who
loves ever to have the last word, if he has the heart to fight,
let him declare the intention of his heart ! Will God forget
any one whom he has always favoured until now ? It is as if
the challenger were already among those who are laid on the
funeral couch ! " I strung my bow, I took out my arrows, I
agitated my dagger, I furbished up my arms. At dawn,
the country of Tonu came together ; it had collected its
tribes, (and) convoked all the foreign lands which were de-
pendent on it ; it desired this combat. Each heart burned
for me, men and women shouted " Ah 1 " for every heart
' These are the phrases used in the official reports to describe the
ravages of the wars carried on by the Pharaohs. Usirtasen III says
similarly : "I have taken their women, I have removed their vassals,
manifesting myself towards their wells, chasing before me their cattle,
devastating their houses and setting them on fire."
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT 25
was anxious on my account, and they said : " Is it really a
strong man that is going to fight with him ? See, his
adversary has a buckler, a battle-axe, an armful of javelins."
When I had gone forth, and he had appeared, I turned
his darts aside from me.''- As not a single one hit (me), he
flung himself upon me, and then I discharged my bow at
him, when my dart buried itself in his neck, he cried and
struck himself on the nose ; I caused his lance to fall, I
lifted up my shout of victory over his back. While all the
people rejoiced, I caused his vassals whom he had oppressed
to show their gratitude to Montu ^ in deed. The prince
Ammi-anshi^ gave me all that the conquered one possessed,
and then I carried away his goods, I took his cattle ; that
which he desired to make me do I made him do ; I seized
what there was in his tent, I despoiled his abode ; so that
the riches of my treasures increased and the number of my
cattle.
Now behold what God has done for me who have
trusted in him. He who had deserted and fled to a foreign
land, now each day his heart is joyous. I saved myself by
flight from the place where I was, and now good testimony
is rendered to me here. After I had fainted, dying of hunger,
now I give bread here where I am. I had quitted my
country naked and behold I am clothed in fine linen.
After having been a fugitive without servants, behold I
possess numerous serfs. My house is beautiful, my domain
large, my memory is established in the temple of all the
gods.* And nevertheless I take refuge always in thy good-
1 The buckler was held with the left hand in front of the body which it
was destined to protect, and presented up at any arrow, lance, or javelin
which was directed against it.
^ Montu was the god of war at Thebes. He was adored at Hermonthis
(now Erment) in the neighbourhood of the capital, and the Greeks
identified him with Apollo ; he was in fact a solar deity, and the monuments
frequently confound him with Ra the Sun-god.
^ The final i is given in the papyrus, like the final u above.
• The Egyptians of high rank obtained from the king, by special
decree, permission to place in the temples statues representing themselves ;
they could also have a stele erected in certain celebrated sanctuaries con-
taining their names and a prayer. This is what was meant by saying that
the deceased was assured of an "excellent memorial" in the temples ot
the gods,
26 RECORDS OF THE PAST
ness (?) : restore me to Egypt,i grant me the favour of once
more seeing in the flesh the place where my heart passes
its time ! Is there any objection to my corpse reposing in
the country where I was born ? To return there is happi-
ness. I have given good things to God, doing that as
suitable to consolidate . . . The heart of him suffers who
is saved to live in a foreign land : is there an every-day for
him ? As for him, he hears the distant prayer, and he
starts, directing his course towards the country where he has
trodden the earth for the first time, towards the place from
whence he is come. I was once at peace with the king of
Egypt, I lived on his gifts, I performed my duties towards
the " Regent of the Earth "^ who is in his palace, I listened
to the conversation of his children ; ah ! the youthful vigour
of my limbs was his ! Now old age comes, feebleness has
attacked me, my two eyes no longer recall what they see,
my two arms droop heavily, my two legs refuse their service,
the heart ceases (to beat) : death approaches me, soon shall
I be borne away to the eternal cities,^ I shall follow thither
the Universal Master;* ah, may he describe to me the
beauties of his children and bring eternity unto me !
Then the majesty of king Khopirkeri,^ of the true voice,^
' It is the king whom Sinuhit now begins to address.
'^ Perhaps the queen, but more probably the royal uraus serpent worn
on the forehead by the king, which was supposed to think and fight for him.
It inspired him with its counsels and during the battle destroyed the enemy
with the flame that issued from its mouth.
2 That is the tomb, also called the " eternal house."
** Osiris, whom every dead Egyptian served and followed. The text
seems to refer to a feminine " Eternal Mistress," and it is possible that a
female Osiris is intended. We know too little about the religion of the
period for me to guarantee the exactitude of my translation.
'* The praenomen of Usirtasen I. the son and successor of Amenem-
hait I.
" The Egyptians, like all oriental peoples, attached a great importance
not only to the words which composed their religious formulte, but also to
the intonation given to each of them. For a prayer to be of avail and to
exercise its full effect upon the gods, it was necessary that it should be recited
in the traditional cadence. Accordingly the highest praise which could be
bestowed on a person obliged to recite an orison, was to call him md-khr6u
' ' correct of voice," to say that he had a ' ' correctly-modulated voice " and
knew the tone to be given to each phrase. The king or priest who filled
the' office of reader [khri-habi] during the sacrifice was termed tnd-kMu.
The gods triumphed over evil by the " correctness of their voice " when
THE ADVENTURES OF SIN UNIT 27
spoke to the officer who was near him. His majesty sent
a message to me with presents on the part of the king, and
filled me with joy, even me who speak to you, like the
princes of every foreign land ; and the Children ^ who are
in his palace made me listen to their conversation.
Copy of the order which was brought to me who speak
to you to restore me to Egypt.
" The Horus, whose births are life, the master of diadems,
whose births are life, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Khopirkeri, the son of the Sun, Amenemhait,^ living for
ever and ever !
" Order for the servant Sinuhit. This order of the king
is brought to thee to inform thee of his will.
" Now that thou hast traversed the foreign countries, from
Edima to ToNU, passing from country to country according
to the wish of thy heart, behold, whatever thou hast done
and has been done against thee, thou dost not break forth
into blasphemies, but if thy word is repulsed, thou dost not
speak in the assembly of the Young,^ even if invited to do
so. Now, then, that thou hast carried out this project
which came into thy mind, let not thy heart vacillate any
longer, for Pharaoh is thy heaven unto thee, he is stable,
he is prosperous, his head is exalted among the royalties
they pronounced the words destined to render the evil spirits powerless.
The dead man, who passed the whole of his funerary existence in reciting
incantations, was the md-khrdu par excellence. The phrase ended by
becoming a laudatory epithet which was always added to the names of the
defunct and of every one in the past who was spoken of with affection,
1 The ' ' Children " are either the children of the reigning king or of one
of his predecessors ; they were ranked in the Egyptian hierarchy im-
mediately after the king, the regents, the queen, and the queen-mother (see
Maspero, Atudes igyptiennes, ii. pp. 14, 15).
2 The name of the king is formed from the praenovien (Khopirkeri)
of Usirtasen I. and the name of Amenemhait II.
' The Egyptian word properly signifies "ayoung man,'' and represented
one of the degrees of the hierarchy of the court. Perhaps it was peculiar
to the age of the twelfth dynasty, as I have not found it in the Papyrus
Hood of the British Museum which has acquainted us with the hierarchy
of Egyptian society in the time of the nineteenth and twentieth dynasties.
We shall see further on that the ' ' Young ' ' were a subdivision of the " Royal
Friends."
28 RECORDS OF THE PAST
of the earth, his children are in the hidden part of the
palace.^
" Leave the riches which thou hast for thyself and with
thee, all of them ! when thou hast arrived in Egypt, behold
the palace, and when thou shalt be in the palace, prostrate
thyself with thy face to the ground before the Sublime Porte.
Thou shalt be master among the Friends (of the king).
And from day to day, behold, thou art [ever] growing
older ; thou hast lost the strength of manhood, thou hast
dreamed of the day of burial. Behold thyself arrived at
the state of beatitude ; on the night whereon the oils of
embalming are applied, there are given to thee the bandages
by the hand of the goddess Tait.^ Thy funeral is followed
on the day of burial, the mummy case gilded, its head
painted blue,^ a canopy above thee of cypress-wood ;* oxen
draw thee, singers go before thee, and the funeral dances
are performed for thee, mourners sit crouching at the
entrance to thy tomb, the prescribed offerings are presented
to thee with loud voice, victims are slain for thee on
thy tables of offering, and thy steles are erected of white
stone, in the circle of the royal children. Thou hast no
rival ; no man of the people reaches thy high rank ; thou
art not laid in a sheep's skin when thou art entombed ;^
^ The beginning of the order is so obscure that I cannot guaiantee my
translation. I believe it means that the king declares himself satisfied with
the tone of Sinuhit's letter and with the temper it betrays.
^ This name signifies literally "linen, bandages ;" the goddess presided
over the swaddling of an infant and the enshrouding of the deceased. The
ceremonies here alluded to are described in a special treatise which I have
published and translated under the title of Rituel de r Embaumenient (in
my Mdmoire sur quelques Papyrus du Louvre).
^ The mummy cases of the eleventh and following dynasties now in the
Louvre are completely gilded, with the exception of the human face, which
is painted red, and the head dress, which is painted blue.
^ The mummy was laid on a funerary bed surmounted by a wooden
canopy during the ceremonies of interment. Rhind discovered one at
Thebes which is now at Edinburgh. I myself have discovered three, one
at Thebes of the thirteenth dynasty, another of the twentieth dynasty also
at Thebes, and a third at Akhmlm of the Ptolemaic epoch. These are all
In the Boulaq Museum, which further possesses two sledges with canopies
of the twentieth dynasty, disinterred at Thebes in 1866 in the tomb of Son-
nozmu. They arc the sort which was drawn to the tomb by bulls.
^ We know from Herodotus (II. 81) that the Egyptians did not like to
put wool with their dead ; we know also that nevertheless a sheep's skin
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT 29
every one strikes the earth and laments over thy corpse
while thou goest to the grave."
When this order reached me, I was standing in the
middle of my tribe. When it was handed to me, having
thrown myself on the stomach I lay upon the ground, I
crawled upon my breast,^ and so I made the circuit of my
tent to mark the joy which I felt at receiving it : " How can
it be that such an event can have happened to me, even to
me who am here present, who, of a rebellious heart, have
fled to foreign countries, hostile to Pharaoh ? Now —
deliverance excellent and lasting — I am delivered from
death and thou wilt make me powerful in my own country ! "
Copy of the answer made to this order by the
lord Sinuhit : —
" O pardon (?) great and unheard-of for the flight which
I took, even I here present, as one who knows not what he
does, which thou accordest unto me, even thou, the good
god, friend of the god Ra, favourite of the god Montu (?)
lord of Thebes and of the god Amon lord of Karnak, son
of the god Ra, image of the god Tumu ^ and of his cycle
of gods, may Suptu,® may the god Nofir-biu,* may the
was occasionally employed at burials, and one of the mummies from Der
el-Bahari (No. 5289) was enveloped in a white skin still covered with its
fleece (Maspero, Les viomies royales in the M^moires prdsenUs par les
Memires de la Mission fermanente , i. p. 548). As the mummy is that of
an unknown prince who seems to have been poisoned, we may ask whether
the sheep's skin was not reserved for criminals or prisoners condemned to
remain impure even in the grave. If so, we can understand the place
assigned to the sheep's skin in the royal Order.
^ Son-to, literally " to smell the earth," the necessary accompaniment 01
every royal audience or divine offering.
^ Tumu or Atumu was the god of Heliopolis, the On of Gen. xli.
50, and chief of the divine Ennead, who had created and preserved the
world.
' A form of Horas. He was the god adored in the Arabian nome of
Egypt, sometimes represented as a man crowned with the solar disk and
bearing the title of "the most noble of the Souls of Heliopolis." He
must not be confounded with the goddess Soptit, the Greek Sothis, who
represented the most brilliant constellation of the Egyptian sky.
* " He whose souls are good," a form of the god Tumu, better known
as Nofir-tumu.
30 RECORDS OF THE PAST
divine Firstborn, ^ may HoRUS of the Orient,^ may the royal
Urasus who is lord of thy head, the chiefs who are on the
basin of the West,^ Horus who resides in foreign countries,*
Urrit the mistress of Arabia,^ Nuit,'' Horus the elder,'
(and) Ra, may all the gods of the Delta and the isles of the
Great Green ^ grant life and force to thy nostrils ; may
they give reins to their hberality and grant thee time
without limit, eternity without measure, spreading the fear
of thee throughout all the countries of the plain and the
mountain, fettering for thee all the course of the sun ! It
is the prayer which I here present make for my lord,
delivered as I am from the foreign land !
" O sage king, the sage word which the majesty of the
sovereign has pronounced in his sageness, I who am here
present, I fear to utter it, and it is a momentous matter to
repeat it. For the mighty god, image of Ra in (his)
wisdom, he has himself laid his hand to the work, and I
1 A form of Horus. Egyptian trinities consisted generally of a father, a
mother, and a son. In the divine family the son was heir presumptive, like
the firstborn son in the family of the Pharaoh.
2 Often confounded with Suptu, and often also with the god Minu. He
reigned over the deserts which extend eastward of Egypt between the Nile
and the Red Sea.
^ The portion of the celestial waters which the bark of the gods reaches
at sunset. The chiefs of the basin were the gods who presided over this
mythic ocean, the gods of the dead. Every Egyptian was supposed after
death to journey to Abydos and penetrate through a cleft westward of the
city into the "basin of the West," where he joined the escort of the
nocturnal sun in order to traverse Hades and be born again the next morn-
ing in the East.
■• Properly speaking, the god of the Libyans, but regarded more
generally as the god of all the foreign nations which bordered on Egypt.
^ The name of Urrit occurs only here. Her title seems to show that
she was a secondary form of Hathor, whom different traditions of great
antiquity spoke of as coming from Arabia.
" The goddess of the sky. With Sibu, the god of the earth, she
formed a divine couple, one of the most ancient among the divine couples
of the Egyptian religion, which could not be reduced to a solar type by the
theologians of the great Theban school in the age of the Ramessids. Nuit
is represented as bent over the body of her husband and figuring by the
curve of her own body the vault of the sky.
' Harolrft, whence the Greek Aro6ris, god of Heaven, and afterwards
a solar deity like Ra, not to be confounded with Horus the younger, the
son of Isis and Osiris.
•* That is "the sea," sometimes the Red Sea, more usually the
Mediterranean.
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT 31
here present, I am of the number of the subjects whereon
he has deliberated, and I have been placed under his
direct inspection ! Verily thy majesty is a Horus,i and
the power of thine arms extends over all lands !
"Now, then, let thy majesty cause Maki of EdimA,
Khonti-aush of Khonti-Kaushu,^ Monu's of the subju-
gated countries,^ to be brought : they are princes ready to
testify that all has happened according to thy wish, and
that ToNU has not growled against thee within itself after
the fashion of thy greyhounds. For as to me who speak
to you, my flight, if it has been voluntary, was not pre-
meditated ; far from plotting it, I could not tear myself
from the spot where I was ; it was like a trance, like the
dream of a man of Athu who sees himself at Abu,* of a
man of the plain of Egypt who sees himself in the
mountain.^ I dreaded nothing; there was no pursuit after
me, my name had never been in the mouth of the herald
up to the moment when fate assailed me, but then my legs
darted forward, my heart guided me, the divine will which
had destined me to this exile led me along. I had not
carried my back high, for the individual fears when the
country knows its master, and Ra had granted that thy
^ The Egyptian monarch was the incarnation of the deity, and was
consequently identified with the third person of the Egyptian trinity.
^ Khonti-Kaushu properly signifies ' ' he who is in Kaushu " (or Kush),
and hence denotes a native of Ethiopia. The neighbourhood of Edimi,
however, rather indicates here some Syrian locality. [Compare the
application of the term " Ethiopian "or " Kushite " to the Midianite wife
of Moses in Numbers .\ii. — Ed.]
' Rendered " the country of the Phoenicians " by Brugsch and others.
Without entering into the question whether the Egyptian word Fonkhu
really denotes Phoenicia, it is sufBcient to say that the word is not really
met with in this passage. But I do not know what region is intended by
the phrase.
* Abu was the Egyptian name of Elephantine, opposite Assuin, Athu
that of a district in the Delta. The two places, like Dan and Beersheba
in the Old Testament, proverbially indicated the whole length of Egypt.
The difference between a Northern and Southern Egyptian extended not
only to manners but even to dialect, so that the unintelligible language of
a bad writer is compared to the conversation of a man of Abu who finds
himself at Athu.
^ Literally "in the land of Khonti." In opposition to the Kha-to or
cultivated plain of the Nile, it must denote the sterile cliffs on either side
of the valley.
32 RECORDS OF THE PAST
terror should be over the foreign land. Behold me now in
my own country, behold me in this place. Thou art the
vesture of this place ; ^ the sun rises at thy pleasure ; the
water of the canals irrigates him who pleases thee ; the
breeze of heaven refreshes him whom thou addressest. As
for me who speak to thee, I will bequeath my goods to the
generations which I have begotten in this place. And as
to the messenger who is come unto me, let thy majesty do
as it hears ; for we live on the air thou givest ; thine august
nostril is the love of Ra, of Horus (and) of Hathor, it is
the will of MoNTU master of Thebes that thou livest
eternally."
I celebrated a festival in Aia to hand over my property
to my children : my eldest son was chief of my tribe, all
my property passed to him, and I gave away all my cattle
as well as my plantations of every species of fruit-tree.
When I travelled towards the south and arrived at Hriu-
HoR, the governor, who was there at the head of the
garrison, despatched a messenger to the palace to give
information of the fact. His majesty sent the excellent
superintendent of the peasants of the king and, with him,
a ship laden with presents from the king for the Sittiu
who came in my train to conduct me to Hriu-Hor. I
addressed by his name each of those who were there ; as
there were servants of every kind, I received and could
carry with me means of subsistence and clothing sufficient
to last me until I arrived at an estate belonging to me.
When the earth revealed itself the following morning,
each of them came to salute me, each of them departed.
I had a prosperous journey as far as the palace j the
introducers struck the ground with their foreheads before
me, the [royal] Children stood in the hall to conduct me,
the Friends who betook themselves to the hall of audience
for the march-past set me on the way to the Royal Lodge.
I found his majesty on the great platform in the Hall of
Silver-gilt ; ^ when I entered towards it, I sank on my
1 Such curious metaphors arc common in Egyptian literature.
"^ The hall probably derived its name from its ornamentation with
electrum or pale gold.
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT 33
stomach, I lost consciousness of myself in his presence.
The god addressed me with kindly words, but I was like a
person suddenly blinded, my tongue failed, my limbs
fainted, my heart was no longer in my breast, and I knew
what is the difference between life and death. His majesty
said to one of the Friends : " Let him be raised and speak
to me ! " His majesty said : " So then thou art returned !
In hanging about foreign lands and playing the fugitive,
age has attacked thee, thou hast reached old age, thy body
is not a little worn out. Dost thou not rise ? Art thou
become a Sitti in duplicity, for thou dost not answer?
Declare thy name." I feared to refuse, and replied thus in
answer : " I am afraid ; nevertheless to that which my
master has asked me, this is what I reply : I have not
called upon myself the hand of God, but it is fear, yea,
fear which seized my heart so that I took the fatal flight. 1
Now, behold me again before thee ; thou art life ; let thy
majesty do what he will ! "
The march-past of the Children ended, his majesty said
to the queen : " This is Sinuhit who comes like a rustic
with the appearance of a Sitti." The Children burst into
a loud shout of laughter all together and said before his
majesty : " It is not he in truth, O sovereign, my master ! "
His majesty said : " It is he in truth." Then they took
their necklaces, their wands of office, their sistra,^ and after
they had brought them to his majesty [they said] : " May
thy two hands prosper, O king ! Put on the adornments of
the Mistress of Heaven,^ offer the emblem of life to my
1 Sinuhit protests his innocence more than once. We have seen already
that the circumstances connected with his flight gave reason for a suspicion
that he was concerned in a plot against the king. Moreover, the treaty
between Ramses II and the prince of the Hittites shows with what care
the Pharaoh endeavoured to recover those of his subjects who had deserted
to the foreigner. Hence the repeated attempts of Sinuhit to clear himself.
2 The ceremonial of the Pharaoh's court included songs prescribed
beforehand as in the court of the Byzantine emperors. The Children
having saluted the king, commence this part of the ceremonial ; they
resume their ornaments, which had been laid aside before the march-past
and the adoration of the king, and along with their ornaments the sistrum
on which they accompanied their song.
3 This seems to mean, act with clemency. Several divimties bore the
title of Mistress of Heaven.
VOL. II ^
34 RECORDS OF THE PAST
nose. Be powerful as master of the stars, traverse the
firmament in the celestial bark ; satiety is the image of the
mouth of thy majesty.^ Thou art set with the uraeus-
serpent on thy brow, and the wicked are scattered from
thee ; thou art proclaimed Ra, master of the two countries,^
and men cry unto thee as unto the master of the universe.
Thy lance overthrows, thy arrow destroys. Grant that he
may live who is in annihilation ! Grant us to breathe at
our ease in the good way where we are ! Simihit,^ the
SiTTi born in To-miri, if he has fled, it was from fear of
thee ; if he has gone far from his country, it was from
terror of thee ; does not the face grow pale which sees thy
face? does not the eye fear which thou hast arrested?"
The king said : " Let him fear no longer, let him dismiss
(all) terror ! He shall be among the Friends of the order
of the Young, and let him be placed among those of the
Circle* who are admitted into the Royal Lodge. Let
orders be given that he be provided with an appanage ! "
I went out towards him in the interior of the Royal
Lodge, and the Children gave me their hands, while we
walked behind the P-ruti doubly great. ^ I was placed in
the house of the Royal Son, where there were riches, where
there was a kiosk for taking the fresh air, where there were
' This apparently signifies that the king is sated with all good things,
and consequently the equal of the gods, who never suffer from hunger. In
fact, he is the god himself, and as such traverses the waters of the sky in
his bark, like the Sun-god, and sums up in himself all the powers of the
solar deities.
° [Upper and Lower Egypt. — Ed.]
"f ' This variant of the name of Sinuhit, due to the caprice of the scribe,
signifies literally " the son of the North." Sinuhit is called " the Sitti "
on account of his long sojourn among the Beduin. To-miri, " the land
of the canals," was a name of the Delta which was also applied to the
whole of Egypt.
^ Persons attached to the court of the Pharaoh received two collective
titles, that of Shonitiu, or "people of the Circle," who surrounded the
sovereign, and that of Qahitiu, or " people of the Angle," perhaps those
who stood in the angles of the hall of audience.
" The RuH, or with the article P-ruti, is like Pimi-Aa, " Pharaoh," a
topographical name which first denoted the palace of the monarch and
then the monarch himself. It is from this title that the Greek legend of
Proteus king of Egypt was derived, who received Helen and Paris and
Menelaos at his court (Herodot, ii. 112-116).
THE ADVENTURES OF SINUHIT 35
divine decorations and mandates on the treasury for silver,
vestments of royal materials, for royal gums and essences,
such as the young like to have in every house, as well as
every sort of artisan in numbers. As the years had passed
over my limbs and I had lost my hair, I was given what
came from foreign lands, and the materials of the' Nomiu-
shAiu ; I arrayed myself in fine linen, I bedewed myself
with essences, I lay on a bed, I was given cakes to eat and
oil wherewith to anoint myself. I was given a whole
house suitable for one who is among the Friends ; I had
plenty of materials for building it, all its timbers were
repaired and fruits of the palace were brought to me three
and four times a day, besides that which the children gave
without ever an instant's cessation. A pyramid of stone
was begun for me in the midst of the funerary pyramids,^
the chief of the land surveyors of his majesty selected its
site, the chief of the architects planned it, the chief of the
stone-cutters sculptured it, the chief of the works which are
executed in the necropolis traversed the land of Egypt to
obtain all the materials necessary for its decoration. When
the necessary appointments had been made in the pyramid
itself, I took peasants and made there a lake,^ a kiosk,^
1 The facts which are mentioned here and there in the sepulchral
inscriptions are here united in a continuous narrative. Sinuhit receives
from Usirtasen the supreme favour, a tomb built and endowed at the
expense of the Pharaoh. The site is given to him gratuitously, the
pyramid constructed, the funerary feasts instituted, the revenues and
endowments intended for the support of the sacrifices are levied on the
royal domains ; finally, the statue itself which should sustain the double of
Sinuhit is of precious metal.
2 A lake, or rather a piece of water surrounded with a border of stone,
was the indispensable ornament of every comfortable country-house. The
ideal tomb being above all things the image of the terrestrial house care
was taken to place in it a lake like the lake of a villa ; the deceased sailed
over it in a boat drawn by his slaves, or sat on its banks under the shade
of its trees.
' The kiosk was, like the lake, an indispensable adjunct of a garden.
The bas-reliefs of Thebes represent it in the midst of trees, sometimes on
the edge of the lake. Its construction was simple ; a flooring raised two
or three steps above the ground, four slender columns supporting a painted
cornice and a slightly sloping roof, the sides open to admit the breeze, and
a balustrade, breast-high, on three sides. The defunct came there like
the living, to converse with his wife, to read stories or to play with the
ladies.
36 RECORDS OF THE PAST
(and) fields in the interior of the sepulchral domain, ^ as is
the case with Friends of the first degree ; there was also a
statue carved out of gold with a robe of electrum, and it
was his majesty who bestowed it. It is not a common
man for whom he has done so much, and in truth I enjoyed
the favour of the king until the day of death. — [The history]
is completed from the commencement to the end as has
been found in the book.
^ The fields of the sepulchral domain were the property of the deceased,
and furnished him with all he required. Each of them produced a special
object, or the revenue derived from them was devoted to procuring for the
defunct a special object of food or clothing, and bore the name of the
object in question ; that, for example, from which Ti derived his figs was
called ' ' the figs of Ti. " The property was administered by the priests of
the ' ' double " or of the funereal statue, who were frequently the priests of
the principal temple of the locality where the tomb was situated. The
family made a contract with them, in accordance with which they engaged
the necessary sacrifices for the well-being of the deceased in exchange for
certain rents paid by the domains which were bequeathed to the tomb.
THE LEGEND OF THE EXPULSION OF
THE HYKSOS
Translated by Professor Maspeeo
The story of the quarrel between the Shepherd-king
Apopi and Soqnun-ri the hereditary prince of Thebes,
which eventually led to the expulsion of the Hyksos
from Egypt, is found, though unfortunately in a
mutilated condition, in the first pages of the Papyrus
Sallier I. The value of a historical document has
long been attributed to it ; but its style, as well as
the expressions and the general character of the
subject, imply a romance, where the principal parts
in the scene are played by persons who belong to
real history, though the scene itself is almost entirely
the offspring of the popular imagination.
Champollion thrice saw the papyrus in the hands
of its original owner, M. Sallier of Aix in Provence,
in 1828, some days before his departure for Egypt,
and in 1830 on his return. The notes published by
Salvolini prove that he had recognised, if not the
exact nature of the story, at all events the historical
significance of the royal names occurring in it. The
manuscript, purchased in 1839 by the British
38 RECORDS OF THE PAST
Museum, was published in facsimile (in 1841) in the
Select Papyri, vol. i. pi. i sqq. ; the notice by Hawkins,
evidently compiled from information given by Birch,
furnishes the name of the antagonist of Apophis,
which had not been read by Champollion, but it
attributes the cartouche of Apophis to king Phiops
of the fifth dynasty. E. de Roug^ was the first who
actually understood the contents of the first pages of
the papyrus. Already in 1847 he gave Soqnun-rt
his true place in the list of the Pharaohs ; in 1854
he pointed out the name of Hiuaru or Avaris in
the fragment and inserted in \.h.Q Atke'ncEum Franqais
1854, p. 352, a fairly detailed analysis of the docu-
ment. The discovery was popularised in Germany
by Brugsch, who attempted to render the three first
lines word for word {^gyptische Studien, ii. 1854),
then in England by Goodwin, who believed himself
able to offer a complete translation of the papyrus
(" Hieratic Papyri " in the Cambridge Essays, 1858, pp.
243-245). Since then, the text has been frequently
studied, by Chabas {Les Pasteurs en Egypte, 1 868),
by Lushington {Fragment of the first Saltier Papyrus
in the Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archae-
ology, iv. pp. 263-266, reproduced in the first series
of Records of the Past, vol. vii.), by Brugsch [History
of Egypt, 2d Edit, vol. i. pp. 274 sqq^, by Ebers
{^/Egypten und die Biicher Moses, 1868, pp. 204 sqq?).
Goodwin, after mature examination, hesitatingly ad-
vanced the opinion that an accurate narrative indeed
could not be found in it, but only a historical novel
THE EXPULSION OF THE HYKSOS 39
(in the English translation of Bunsen's Egypt s Place
in History, iv. p. 671). It is the opinion which I
share, and which appears to have generally prevailed.
The transcription and translation of the text and a
commentary upon it are given in my Etudes igypti-
ennes, i. pp. 195-216; the translation alone is re-
produced in my Contes ^gyptiens, 2d Edit, pp. 273-
286.
I believe the existing fragments allow us to
restore almost the whole of the first two pages.
Perhaps the attempt at restoration which I propose
will appear adventurous even to Egyptologists ; at
all events it will be seen that I have not undertaken
it rashly. A minute analysis of the text has led me
to the results which I here submit to criticism.
THE LEGEND OF THE EXPULSION OF THE
HYKSOS
It happened that the land of Egypt belonged to the Im-
pure,^ and as there was no lord monarch that day, it hap-
pened then that the king Soqnun-rl ^ was sovereign over
the country of the South, and that the Impure of the city
of Ra ^ were subject to Ra-Apopi * in Hauaru ; ^ the entire
country paid him tribute together with its manufactured
products and so loaded him with all the good things of
To-miri.8 Now the king Ra-Ap6pi took the god Sutekhu
for his master, and he no longer served any (other) deity
who was in the whole country excepting only SuTEKHtr,
and he built a temple of excellent and imperishable work-
manship at the gate of the king Ra-Ap6pi, and he arose
each day to sacrifice daily victims to Sutekhu ; and the
vassal chiefs of the sovereign were there with garlands of
flowers, just as is the case in the temple of Ph-Ra-Har-ma-
1 This is one of the insulting epithets lavished by the resentment of the
scribes on the Shepherds or Hyksos and the other foreigners who had
occupied Egypt.
^ This is the most probable pronunciation of the name usually and
wrongly transcribed Ra-skenen. Three kings of Egypt bore this fraenomen,
two of the name of Tiu-^a and one of the name of Tiu-4a-qen, who reigned
some years before Ahmosi the founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
2 That is Heliopolis, the On of the North, the daughter of whose
priest was married by Joseph.
^ As it had been repeatedly advanced that Ap6pi, being an Hyksos,
could not possibly add the title of Ra to his name, I beg to state here that
the dot which represents the cursive hieratic form of the disk is as perfectly
legible in the original manuscript as it is in the facsimile.
^ The Avaris of Manetho, the Egyptian fortress of the Shepherd-kings.
E. de Roug^ has shown that Avari^ was one of the names of Tanis, the
Zoan of the Old Testament.
" Lower Egypt.
THE EXPULSION OF THE HYKSOS 41
khuti. And the king Ra-Ap6pi bethought himself of send-
ing a message to announce it to the king Soqnun-ri, the
prince of the city of the South.^ And many days after that,
the king Ra-Ap6pi summoned his great chiefs. . . .
[The text is interrupted here and begins again at the
top of page 2 : when it recommences after an almost com-
plete lacuna of five lines and a half we find phrases which
evidently belong to the message of king Apopi. Now
numerous texts teach us that a message entrusted to a per-
son is always repeated by him almost word for word ; we
can therefore feel convinced that the two lines put into the
mouth of the envoy on page 2, were already contained in
the lost lines of page i, and in fact, the small isolated frag-
ment at the foot of the published facsimile contains the
remains of characters which exactly correspond to the sen-
tences of the message. This first version of the message,
accordingly, was put into the mouth of the royal councillors;
but who were these councillors ? Were they the " great
chiefs " who were summoned at the point where the text
breaks off ? That is impossible, as in the fragments of line
7 mention is made of " the learned scribes," and in line 2
of page 2 it is expressly stated that Apopi sent to Soqnun-ri
the message " which his learned scribes had repeated to
him." We must therefore admit that Apopi, after consult-
ing his civil and military chiefs, was counselled to apply to
his scribes. The words of the latter begin at the end of
line 7 with the customary exclamation : " O suzerain, our
master !" In short, for the whole of this first part of the
lacuna we have a consultation similar to that carried on
afterwards at the court of Soqnun-ri, and in the story of the
Two Brothers, when the Pharaoh desires to discover the
owner of the curl which perfumed his linen. Consequently
I continue the tale as follows :] And many days after that,
the king Ra-Ap6pi summoned his great chiefs, as well as
his captains and his prudent generals, but they could not
suggest to him a speech which was good to send to the king
Soqnun-ri the chief of the country of the South. So the
king Apopi summoned his scribes versed in magic. They
1 Thebes.
42 RECORDS OF THE PAST
said to him : " O suzerain, our master." . . y and they
suggested to the king Ra-Ap6pi the discourse which he
desired : " Let a messenger go to the chief of the city of
the South and say to him : The king Ra-Ap6pi sends to
say ; Let the hippopotamuses which are in the canals of
the country be chased on the pool, in order that they may
allow sleep to visit me night and day. . . ."
[A line and a half, perhaps even more, still remains to
be supplied. Here again, the sequel permits us to restore
the sense, if not the letter, of what is wanting in the text.
We see that after having received the message recounted
above, king Soqnun-ri assembles his council, which is per-
plexed and at a loss for an answer ; whereupon king Apopi
sends a second embassy. It is evident that the embarrass-
ment and silence of the Thebans were foreseen by the
scribes of Apopi, and that the part of their advice which
is preserved at the top of page 2 contained the end of the
second message which Apopi was to send, if the first met
with no reply. In similar stories, some extraordinary action
is described which has to be performed by one of two
kings ; the penalty is always stated to which he must sub-
mit in case of ill-success and the reward he will receive in
case of success. There must have been a similar de-
scription in the Legend, and I therefore propose to restore
the text as follows ;]
He will not know what to answer, whether good or bad :
then thou shalt send him another message : " The king Ra-
Apopi sends saying : If the chief of the South cannot
answer my message, let him serve no other god than Sute-
KHU ! But if he answers it, and does that which I bid
him do,2 then I will take nothing from him, and I will no
more bow down before any other god of the land of Egypt
except Amon-Ra the king of the gods !"
And many days after that, the king Ra-Ap6pi sent to
the prince of the country of the South the message which
his scribes versed in magic had suggested to him ; and the
messenger of the king Ra-Ap6pi came to the chief of the
' This line must contain a compliment to the king.
* The part of the text which is preserved recommences here.
THE EXPULSION OF THE HYKSOS 43
land of the South. He said to the messenger of the king
Ra-Ap6pi .• " What message dost thou bring to the land of
the South ? Why hast thou made this journey ? " The
messenger replied : " The king Ra-Ap6pi sends to say :
Let the hippopotamuses which are in the canals of the
country be chased on the pool, in order that they may
allow sleep to visit me day and night. ..." The chief of
the land of the South was astounded and knew not what
answer to make to the messenger of the king Ra-Ap6pi.
So the chief of the land of the South said to the messenger :
" This is what thy master sends to . . . the chief of the
land of the South . . . the words which he has sent me
... his goods. ..." The chief of the land of the South
caused all kinds of good things, meats, cakes, . . . (and)
wine to be given to the messenger ; then he said to him :
" Return and tell thy master ... all that which thou hast
said, I approve. ..." The messenger of the king Ra-
Apopi set himself to return to the place where his master
was. Then the chief of the South summoned his great
chiefs as well as his captains and his able generals, and he
repeated to them all the message which the king Ra-Ap6pi
had sent to him. Then they were silent with a single
mouth for a long moment (of time), and did not know what
answer to make whether good or bad.
The king Ra-Ap6pi sent to the chief of the land of the
South the other message which his scribes versed in magic
had suggested to him. . . .
[It is unfortunate that the text is broken just in this
place. The three Pharaohs who bore the name of Soqnun-ri
reigned during a troublous period and must have left en-
during memories in the minds of the Theban people.
They were active and warlike princes, and the last of them
perished by a violent death, perhaps in battle against the
Hyksos. He had shaved his beard the morning before,
" arraying himself for the combat like the god Montu," as
the Egyptian scribes would say. His courage led him to
penetrate too far into the ranks of the enemy ; he was sur-
rounded and slain before his companions could rescue him.
The blow of an axe removed part of his left cheek and laid
44 RECORDS OF THE PAST
bare the teeth, striking the jaw and felling him stunned to
the ground ; a second blow entered far within the skull, a
dagger or short lance splitting the forehead on the right
side a little above the eye. The Egyptians recovered the
body and embalmed it in haste, when already partially de-
composed, before sending it to Thebes and the tomb of
his ancestors. The features of the mummy, now in the
Museum of Boulaq, still show the violence and fury of the
struggle ; a large white piece of brain is spread over the
forehead, the retracted lips uncover the jaw and the tongue
is bitten between the teeth.^ The author of the Legend
may probably have continued his story down to the tragic
end of his hero. The scribe to whom we owe the papyrus
on which it is inscribed must certainly have intended to
complete the tale ; he had recopied the last lines on the
reverse of one of the pages, and was preparing to continue
it when some accident intervened to prevent his doing so.
Perhaps the professor at whose dictation he appears to have
written did not himself know the end of the Legend. It
is probable, however, that it went on to describe how Soq-
nun-ri, after long hesitation, succeeded in escaping from
the embarrassing dilemma in which his powerful rival had
attempted to place him. His answer must have been as
odd and extraordinary as the message of Apopi, but we
have no means even of conjecturing what it was.]
^ Maspero : Les Mamies royales d' Egypte rUemment mises au jour,
pp. 14, 15.
THE STELE OF THOTHMES IV (OF THE
EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY)
Translated by D. Mallet
This stele had been buried for ages, under the sand
which again and again has covered the body of the
Sphinx, when it was disinterred in 1818 by an
Englishman, Captain Caviglia. Salt, who had taken
part in his friend's excavations, gave a detailed
account of the disinterment, and his narrative,
preserved in MS. at the British Museum, has been
published by Col. Vyse in the appendix to his
work on the Operations carried on at the Pyramids
of Gizeh (Svo, London 1842, vol. iii. pp. 107 sqq^
After uncovering all the hinder portion of the
Sphinx, Caviglia found at the end of the long
passage which lay between the paws, a small temple,
ten feet in length by five in breadth, immediately
below the chin of the figure. The extremity of it
was occupied by a block of granite, fourteen feet in
height, covered with sculptures and hieroglyphics
recording the name of Thothmes IV ; this block is
the stele of which we are about to give a translation.
It was set up against the breast of the Sphinx,
46 RECORDS OF THE PAST
without, however, actually touching it. The two
walls, built along the paws at right angles to that
at the end of the shrine, had been adorned with two
other stelae of smaller size and of limestone ; one of
them, containing the name of Ramses II, was still
in situ ; the other had fallen into the interior of the
chapel among other masses of rubbish, in which
fragments of the beard once attached to the chin of
the figure, as in the case of all Egyptian figures of
gods or kings, could still be recognised. A door
opened between the two walls of lesser elevation
which enclosed the shrine on the eastern side.
Before the temple, a sort of paved court extended
about three-fourths of the length of the paws, and
was also enclosed by two walls separated from one
another by a roofless opening before which was
erected a square altar of granite.
Caviglia succeeded in uncovering the Sphinx as
' far as the base, over an area of more than one
hundred feet. Unfortunately the sand of the desert
soon recommenced its work, and later Lepsius, and
subsequently the Due de Luynes, had again to
undertake the task of removing it at great expense
in order to reach the curious stele of Thothmes IV.
In 1880 Mariette undertook new and important
excavations on the same spot. Like Caviglia, he
brought to light the huge staircase of two stages
which descends from the plateau of the desert and
led the curious and the devout to the extremity
of the shrine, where the colossal image of the god
THE STELE OF THOTHMES IV 47
Harmakhis, as embodied in the Sphinx, rises from
the ground ; and he recognised the remains of
buildings, the existence of which had already been
noticed by his predecessor. Prof Maspero, Mariette's
successor as Director- General of excavations in
Egypt, was anxious to push the work of exploration
yet further. Ancient authors, Pliny among others, had
stated that the body of the' Sphinx contained a royal
tomb, and Arab writers had recounted all sorts of
marvellous legends on the subject. Certain Egyptian
monuments, moreover, represented the Sphinx as
lying on a lofty pedestal and adorned with those
prismatic grooves of which the architects of the Old
Empire were so fond.^ This pedestal might enclose
the tomb of which Pliny speaks, and might have
been buried in the sand as far back as the age of
Khafri (Khephren) of the fourth dynasty. To solve
the problem it was necessary to lower the level of
the soil as far as the rocky platform on which the
monument stands, and thus to restore it to the
condition in which it was towards the commencement
of the second century of our era. Then soundings
would have to be taken in order to see whether the
supposed tomb existed or not. A sum of i 5,000
francs, collected by subscription by the Journal des
Debats, allowed the work of clearing away the sand
to begin in the winter of 1885-6 and to be followed
1 See the picture which precedes that of our stele in Lepsius, Denk-
miller, iii. pi. 68. Cf. also ii. pll. 16, 17, where a, similar decoration is
to be seen in the tomb of Nofri-t-keu, daughter of Snefru of the third
dynasty.
48 RECORDS OF THE PAST
up with great activity.^ After the departure of Prof.
Maspero from Egypt, however, the work was
interrupted, and the question accordingly has not
yet been settled.
The stele of Thothmes IV is of peculiar import-
ance for the history of the Sphinx. It furnishes, in
fact, two landmarks for periods very distant from
one another. Towards the middle of it, mention is
made of Khafri, the third king of the fourth dynasty,
in terms which the state of the stone unfortunately
does not permit us to determine quite exactly.
They have been held by some to imply that the
monument was constructed by that king. It is
probable, however, that it is much more ancient,
mounting back, perhaps, to the ages preceding
Menes. To Khafri would have fallen the task of
clearing away for the first time during the historical
period the masses of sand which had already almost
covered it. Towards the fifteenth century B.C. the
work had to be done again, and Thothmes IV, in
consequence of a dream, undertook in his turn to
disclose the image of the god to the veneration of its
worshippers. The work was doubtless difficult, and
once achieved he determined to preserve the memory
of it. He accordingly caused a stele to be made,
and inscribed upon it an account of his vision and
of the labours which had been the result of it.
However, he did not go to any great expense in
1 Maspero, Rapport sur les fouilles dc 1885-6 in the Bulktin de
V Institut igypHen, 1886.
THE STELE OF THOTHMES IV 49
searching for stone ; instead of transporting a new
block from Syene " he took one of the architraves of
the neighbouring temple, now called the temple of
the Sphinx, and engraved upon it his inscription,
without troubling himself even to smooth the
reverse." ^
As for the text, it had been copied by Salt in
1818, and his copy is at present in the British
Museum among the papers which have been alluded
to above. It was published by Young in his
Hieroglyphics (London, 1820, pi. 80), and afterwards
reproduced more imperfectly in Vyse's work on the
Pyramids of Gizeh (London, 1842, iii. Appendix,
pi. 6). Lepsius gave a new and more correct copy
of it in his Denkmdler (iii. pi. 68), but the copy was
less complete in certain parts, the monument having
suffered during the interval of time which had
separated his journey from that of Caviglia and
Salt.
Birch explained some fragments of the inscription
in the work of Vyse in 1842. The historical
portion has been translated into German by Brugsch
{Zeitschrift fiir Aegyptische Sprache, 1876, pp. 89
sqq^, and this translation has been reproduced in the
German and English editions of his History of
Egypt.
Birch gave the first complete translation of it in
the twelfth volume of the former series of Records of
the Past. It has been further explained word by
1 Maspero, Rapport, p. 47.
VOL. II E
so RECORDS OF THE PAST
word and commented on by M. Pierret in his lectures
at the Ecole du Louvre 1885-6, Prof. Maspero,
finally, has analysed the whole and translated several
lines of the text in his Rapport a Vlnstitut igyptien
siir les foinlles de 1885-6 (in the Bulletin de I'lnstitut
^gyptien, 1886).
At the head of the stele the solar disk, with its
two uraei serpents and two great wings, commands
the two scenes which occupy the first compartment.
On the left the king, in a wig crowned by the uraeus,
presents in his two uplifted hands a large-bodied
vase to the divine sphinx with human head, who
reclines on a lofty pedestal. Above is an inscription
which occupies all the length of the scene : " The
King of the South and of the North, Men-khopiru-
Ri Thothmos Khakeu who grants life stable and
pure." And the god replies : " I have given life
stable and pure to the master of the two lands
Thothmos Khakeu." In front of the king is a short
legend, much injured, which contained the words :
" Homage of the vase Nemast."
On the right the king, in a helmet, with the left
hand presents the sphinx, reclined on a pedestal
similar to the other but turned in the opposite
direction, with incense which smokes in a vase, and
with the right hand offers a libation which he pours
over an altar of very elongated form. Above the
head of the king is the same formula as before :
" The King of the South and of the North, Men-
khopiru-Ri Thothmos Khakeu." And Harmakhis
THE STELE OF THOTHMES IV 51
replies : " I have given the sword to the master of
the two lands, Thothmos Khakeu."
Between the two scenes, below the disk, is a
vertical inscription, which occupies all the upper part
of the first compartment and passes between the two
figures of the sphinxes, which lie back to back. It
runs thus : " I have caused Men-khopiru-Ri to rise
on the throne of See, Thothmos Khakeu in the
function of TUM."
The pedestals on which the two sphinxes recline
consist of three horizontal platforms, and of a wall
which is ornamented alternately with incised squares
and rectangles, interrupted towards the extremities
by four designs, symmetrically arranged and some-
what resembling the leaves of trefoil. It is this
decoration which has already been noted above,
and which is found on monuments of the Old
Empire.
An irregular fracture, which commences towards
the twelfth line of the inscription, runs from right to
left, leaving intact only a part of the two following
lines. The measurements taken by Lepsius
{Denkmdler, iii. pi. 68) allow us to determine the
extent of the text which has been destroyed. The
monument was originally 7 ft. 2 in. in length and
II ft. 10 in. in height. Now the hieroglyphics
have been destroyed to a height of nearly 4 ft. on
the left side, of 4 ft. 4 in. in the middle, and of 5 ft.
4 in. on the right side. Taking no notice of the
double tableau, which forms the upper compartment
S2 RECORDS OF THE PAST
of the stele, we see that nearly one half of the
inscription has become illegible.
The conclusion must have contained the answer
of Thothmos to the words of the god, and then a
recital of the works which were executed in accord-
ance with his commands. It ended, doubtless, with
a dithyramb in honour of the monarch, Harmakhis
assuring to him a glorious reign as a reward for his
piety. As a matter of fact, Thothmos had hardly
ascended the throne before he commenced the work
and erected the stele. Then the sand of the desert
recommenced to rise little by little, and probably as
far back as the fourteenth or thirteenth century B.C.
the Sphinx was already enshrouded by it again. In
the Greek and Roman epochs it was once more
removed several times. The staircase was constructed
which gave access to the temple, and numerous
tourists were able to engrave their names on the
wall of the temple and the paws of the Sphinx. In
spite of much trouble and expense, the savans of
the nineteenth century have not yet succeeded in
completely disinterring this unique monument of
primeval Egypt or in discovering its hidden secret.
THE STELE OF THOTHMES IV
1. The first year, the third month of the inundation (Athyr),
the 19th day, under the Majesty of the Horus, the
strong bull who produces the risings (of the sun), the
master of diadems, whose royalty is stable as [that of]
TuM, the golden hawk, prevailing with the glaive,
the vanquisher of the nine bows,^ king of the South
and of the North, Men-khopiru-Ri, the son of the Sun,
Thothmos Khakeu, beloved of Amon-Ra, king of
the gods, giver of life serene, like Ra, eternally.
2. The good god lives, the son of Tum, who lays claim on
Harmakhis' the sphinx, the life of the universal
lord; the omnipotent^ who creates the beneficent
flesh of Khopri, beautiful of face like the chief his
father. As soon as he issues forth, he is furnished
with his forms,^ [and the diadems] of HoRUS are on
his head ; king of the South and of the North,
delight of the divine ennead, who purifies On,*
3. who reigns ^ in the abode of Ptah, offering the truth
to Tum, presenting ^ it to the master of the southern
wall,^ making endowments of daily offerings ^ to the
god, accomplishing all that [now] exists and seeking
[new] honours for the gods of the South and of the
North, constructing their temples of white stone and
confirming all their substance,^ legitimate ^^ son of
Tum, Thothmos Khakeu, like unto Ra ;
' That is, of the barbarians.
^ Ur Sep, properly, " he whose vicissitudes are great. "
' This word appears only in Young, Hieroglyphics, pi. 80.
' Or "restores On" (Heliopolis).
^ Literally, "who wields thesceptreoftheabodeof Ptah, "?.^. Memphis.
* Literally, " making it ascend (to the nostrils) of the god," as so often
depicted on the monuments.
^ Ptah. The southern wall was the part of Memphis where the temple
of the god stood. ^ A meni-t-u.
^ Or " their existences," /a/-2z. ^° Literally " of his loins."
S4 RECORDS OF THE PAST
4. heir of Horus/ master of his throne, Men-khopiru-ri,
who gives hfe. Now, when his Majesty was a child,^
in the character of Horus in Kheb,^ his beauty
[was] Hke that of [the god] who avenges his father
(Osiris) ; it was regarded like that of the god
himself; the soldiers raised shouts of joy because
of him, the Royal sons and all the nobles sub-
mitting themselves to his valour* because of his
exploits ;
5. for he has renewed the circle of his victories, even as
the son of Nut.^ At that time he hunted " on the
mountains of the Memphite nome, taking his
pleasure,' along the roads of the South and of the
North,^ shooting at the target ^ with darts i" of
bronze, chasing the lions and the gazelles of the
desert, advancing on his chariot with horses swifter
6. than the wind, together with only one of his servants,^^
without being recognised by any one. Then came
his time for allowing repose to his servants, at the
^ Or " flesh of Horus."
^ Anup, with the determinative of " infant," is used in the sense of
"child," "youth," especially when reference is made to the royal family.
See Brugsch, Diet. p. 92. Here the word signifies " hereditary prince."
^ I.e. in the north of Egypt, where Horus had passed his early years
under the charge of his mother Isis. The young prince is likened to Horus.
* Literally, "being under his double solar power" (of North and
South). = Here the god Set.
" The word sam, which is without a determinative, may not signify " to
hunt " here. Brugsch {Zeitschrift , 1876, p. 93) thinks that the sokheti-u
(or perhaps sam-ti-u), sometimes represented as holding a lance, were
warriors or huntsmen. They were more probably shepherds, who when
leading their fiocks to the " fields" (sokhet, sam) were armed in order to
defend their flocks and themselves.
7 Literally, " rejoicing his face." 8 Going from south to north.
" Heb, with the determinative of a piece of wood on a base and
transfixed by featherless arrows.
'" Khomt means merely objects of bronze. If the determinative of luib
is exactly represented in the copy the objects would be darts.
" Ua, ' ' one, ' ' is repeated twice in the copies and hitherto the translation
has been " one and one," i.e. " two." I know no other example of such
an expression, however, and believe the second u& to be the result of error.
No doubt in the next sentence the servants are spoken of in the plural
{shes-u), but the prince was evidently followed by an escort. Here refer-
ence is made only to his companion in the chariot.
THE STELE OF THOTHMES IV 55
sopef^ of Harmakhis and^ of Sokaris in the
necropolis, of Rannuti ^ with the male and
female deities,* of the mother who engenders the
gods of the NorthjS the mistress of the wall of the
South,
7. Sekhet who reigns in Xois and in the domain of Set
the great magician ;^ — that sacred place of the
creation,'' [which goes back] to the days ^ of the
masters of Kher,^ the sacred path of the gods
towards the western horizon of On ; for the sphinx
of Khopri, the very mighty, resides in this place,
the greatest of the spirits, the most august of those
who are venerated, when the shadow rests upon him.i"
The temples of Memphis and of all the districts which
are on both sides [advance] towards him, with the
two arms extended to adore his face,
8. with magnificent offerings for his double {kd). On one
of these days, the royal son, Thothmos, being
arrived, while walking at midday and seating himself
under the shadow of this mighty god, was overcome
by slumber and slept ^^ at the very moment when
Ra is at the summit (of heaven).
9. He found that the Majesty of this august god spoke to
^ Sopt has hitherto been rendered " to make offerings," but the word
which has no determinative, denotes, I believe, a locality consecrated to
the gods in question. Here perhaps it signifies a quarry or trench running,
as is afterwards stated, in the direction of Heliopolis.
^ Literally, " by the side of" ^ The divine nurse.
* This sense of the words has been suggested by Prof. Maspero.
^ Young's copy here contains more characters tlian that of Lepsius.
" The names of the divinities honoured in the locality mentioned seem
to me to be inserted in order to determine the place with more pre-
cision ; perhaps reference is made to the gorge which leads to the Sphinx.
The sentence is continued, not by heka-ur but by as-t zeser ten, in apposi-
tion to what precedes. Ur-u appears to be in the plural and thus to refer
to Sekhet and Set.
' Literally, "of the first time, " an expression generally used of the
creation.
^ Or perhaps, ' ' which extends to the domains of the masters of Kher. "
^ An old name of the Egyptian Babylon, now Old Cairo. The road
mentioned here appears to be different from that followed by Piankhi when
going from Memphis to Babylon.
1" Literally, " the time when the shadow rests upon him."
" Or " a dream which sleep produces took him."
56 RECORDS OF THE PAST
him with his own mouth, as a father speaks to his
son, saying : Look upon me, contemplate me, O
my son Thothmos ; I am thy father, Harmakhis-
Khopri-Ra-Tum; I bestow upon thee the sovereignty
I o. over my domain, the supremacy ^ over the Hving ; thou
shalt wear its white crown and its red crown ^ on
the throne of See the hereditary chiefs May the
earth be thine in all its length and breadth ; may
the splendour of the universal master illumine (thee) j
may there come unto thee the abundance * that is
in the double land, the riches brought from every
country and the long duration of years. Thine is
my face, thine is my heart ; thy heart is mine.^
1 1. Behold my actual condition that thou mayest protect all
my perfect limbs.'' The sand of the desert whereon
I am laid has covered me. Save me,^ causing all
that is in my heart ^ to be executed. For I know
that thou art my son, my avenger . . . approach (?),
behold I am with thee. I am [thy father] . . .
12. . . . Afterwards [the prince awakened] ; he understood
the word of this god and kept silence in his heart . . .
The temples of the district consecrate offerings to
this god ^ . . .
13. . . . Khafri,!** image made for Tum-Harmakhis . . .
14. ... at the festivals . . .
^ The last words are found only in Young's copy.
2 The crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. The feminine pronoun is
suffixed to the words.
^ Common title of Seb, indicating the antiquity of his cult. The title
(crpd) dates from a period when as yet there was no suten or " king," and
recalls an age of primitive feudalism. Amon, who became the supreme
deity in the time of the Theban dynasties, is suten or " king " of the gods,
as first pointed out by Professor Maspero. * Literally, " provisions."
' The two copies differ here ; I supply ab (" heart ") before k-n-a.
8 Restored from Young's copy : ' ' behold for thee my destiny, as being
in protection of my limbs." ' -Literally, " heal me. "
* That is, what my heart desires.
" Brugsch conjecturally restores the passage thus : " [Without thinking
of freeing from sand the work of king] Khafra, the image he had made
for the god Tum-Harmakhis." If we consider the Sphinx as really older
than Khafri, the latter part of the proposed translation must be abandoned.
1" Khephren of the fourth dynasty.
TABLETS OF TEL EL-AMARNA RELATING
TO PALESTINE IN THE CENTURY
BEFORE THE EXODUS
Translated by the Editor
In the winter of 1887 a very remarkable discovery-
was made among the mounds of Tel el-Amarna in
Upper Egypt. Tel el-Amarna lies on the eastern
bank of the Nile about midway between Minieh and
Siout, and its extensive ruins cover the site of the
capital of Amenophis IV, or Khu-en-Aten, the so-
called " Heretic King " of the eighteenth Egyptian
dynasty. Khu-en-Aten was the son of Amen6phis
III by a Syrian princess Teie, who, as we now know
was the daughter of Duisratta, the king of Mitanni or
Nahrina, the Aram Naharaim of Scripture (Judges iii.
8), a Mesopotamian district which lay opposite to
the Hittite city of Carchemish. Like his father,
Khu-en-Aten surrounded himself with Semitic officers
and courtiers, and after his accession to the throne
publicly professed himself a convert to the religion
of his mother, which consisted in the adoration of the
winged solar disk, called Aten in Egyptian. His
rejection of the faith of his fathers soon brought
58 RECORDS OF THE PAST
about a rupture with the powerful priesthood of
Thebes, and Khu-en-Aten eventually left his ancestral
capital and built himself and his followers a new
capital further north, the site of which is now known
as Tel el-Amarna. Here in the neighbouring cliffs
and desert are found the tombs of the adherents of
the new Egyptian creed, and here Khu-en-Aten
reigned and died. He was succeeded by one or two
converts to the foreign religion ; but their reigns were
brief, and after a short while the Pharaoh returned to
the worship of the Egyptian gods, the new capital of
Khu-en-Aten was deserted, and the foreign faith
suppressed.
On his departure from Thebes, Khu-en-Aten had
carried with him the archives of the kingdom, and it
is a portion of these that the fellahin discovered in
1887 among the foundations of the royal palace.
They consist of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform
writing of the Babylonian type and in the Babylonian
language. The tablets are copies of letters and
despatches from the kings and governors of Babylonia
and Assyria, of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Eastern
Kappadokia, of Phcenicia and Palestine, and they
prove that all over the civilised East, in the century
before the Exodus, active literary intercourse was
carried on through the medium of a common
literary language — that of Babylonia, and the compli-
cated Babylonian script. It is evident, therefore, that
throughout Western Asia schools and libraries must
have existed, in which clay tablets inscribed with
TABLETS OF TEL EL-AMARNA 59
cuneiform characters were stored up, and where the
language and syllabary of Babylonia were taught
and learned. Such a library must have existed in
the Canaanite city of Kirjath-Sepher or "Book-
town" (Judges i. 1 1), and if its site can ever be
recovered and excavated we may expect to find there
its collection of books written upon imperishable
clay.
Among the correspondents of the Egyptian
sovereigns were Assur-yuballidh of Assyria and
Burna-buryas of Babylonia, which thus fix the date
of Khu-en-Aten to about 1430 B.C. Palestine and
Phoenicia were garrisoned at the time by Egyptian
troops, and there were as yet no traces of the Israelite
in the land. But the Canaanitish population was
already threatened by an enemy from the north.
These were the Hittites, to whom references are made
in several of the despatches from Syria and Phoenicia.
After the weakening of the Egyptian power in conse-
quence of the religious troubles which followed the
death of Khu-en-Aten, the Hittites were enabled to
complete their conquests in the south and to drive
a wedge between the Semites of the East and the
West. With the revival of the Egyptian empire
under the rulers of the nineteenth dynasty the south-
ward course of Hittite conquest was checked, but the
wars of Ramses II against the Hittites of Kadesh on
the Orontes desolated and exhausted Canaan and
prepared the way for the Israelitish invasion.
Two facts of special interest to the Biblical student
6o RECORDS OF THE PAST
result from the discovery of the tablets of Tel el-
Amarna. In the first place, as has been seen, the
date of the Exodus has been approximately deter-
mined ; at all events, the Egyptologists have been
shown to be right in not assigning it to an earlier
period than B.C. 1320, that is to say, the reign of
Meneptah the son and successor of Ramses II. In
the second place, light is thrown upon the statement
of Exodus (i. 8) that the Pharaoh of the oppression
was " a new king which knew not Joseph." We learn
from the tablets that Khu-en-Aten was not only half
Semitic in descent and wholly Semitic in faith, he
also surrounded himself with officers and courtiers of
Phoenician or Canaanitish extraction. The Vizier
himself, who stood next to the monarch, and like him
is addressed as " lord," bore the name of Dudu, the
Dodo and David of the Old Testament, which
belonged specifically to the land of Canaan. Most
of the Egyptian governors and lieutenants from whom
the king received his despatches had similarly Semitic
names, and it is clear that not only were Semitic
culture and religion dominant in Egypt, but most of
the offices of state were in Semitic hands. The rise
of the nineteenth dynasty under Ramses I. marked
the reaction against Semitic influence, and brought
with it the expulsion of the foreigner. Thebes became
once more the capital of the kingdom, and the
Egyptian priesthood and aristocracy took their re-
venge upon the hated stranger. Had the insurrec-
tion of Arab! been successful, the Europeans would
TABLETS OF TEL EL-AMARNA 6i
have fared in our day as the Semites fared in the
days of Ramses.
The translations which follow are those of tablets
which I have copied at Cairo. I have selected for
the most part the despatches which were sent from
Southern Palestine. The originals are all preserved
in the Museum of Boulaq, with the exception of No.
Ill, which was in the possession of M. Urbain
Bouriant, the director of the French Archaeological
School in Cairo, at the time I copied it. Translitera-
tions of the texts, with notes, will appear in a paper
of mine on " The tablets of Tel el-Amarna now in
Egypt"; a general account of the tablets at Boulaq and
in Berlin will be found in Dr. Hugo Winckler's Bericht
iieber die Thontafeln von Tell- el-Amarna, in the
Sitzungsberichte der koniglich preussischen Akademie
der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, No. 5 i, December 1888.
It may be added that Amenophis III and his son
Amenophis IV Khu-en-Aten are addressed in the
tablets by thoir: prcsnomina, Nimmuriya and Nimutriya
corresponding to the name read Ma-nib-ri by Pro-
fessor Maspero, Napkhurururiya to Nofir-khopiru-ri.
Napkhurururiya is also found abbreviated into
Khuri(ya), which explains why in the Greek lists
Oros occupies the place of Khu-en-Aten.
DESPATCHES FROM PALESTINE IN THE
CENTURY BEFORE THE EXODUS.
No. II
1 . To the king, my lord,
2. my gods,2 my Sun-god,^
3. by letter
4. I speak,* even I Su-arda-ka ^
5. thy servant, the dust of thy feet :
6. at the feet of the king my lord,
7. my gods, my Sun-god,
8. seven times seven do I prostrate myself.
9. The king of (the country of) . . . directed the mouth
10. to make war :
11. in the city of Kelte ^
1 2. he made war against thee the third time.
13. A cry (for assistance) to myself
14. was brought. My city
15. belonging to myself
16. adhered to (?) me.
1 7 . Ebed-tob ^ sends
1 8. to the men of Kelte ;
1 No. XI in my forthcoming paper on the tablets of Tel el-Amama.
^ This is a curious parallelism to the use of the plural Elohim in
Hebrew for the singular " God."
' The Egyptian Pharaoh was not only " the son of the Sun," but was
also identified with the Sun-god himself.
* Ki dhema atma.
" Su-arda-ka is a purely Assyro-Babylonian name, and shows how far
the cultivated classes of Western Asia had gone in adopting the Babylonian
language.
" The Hebrew Keilah (Josh. xv. 44, i Sam. xxiii.), now Kilft.
' Abd-Dhabba, which may, however, also be read Abd-Khima. Com-
pare the names of Talj-Rimmon (i Kings, xv. 18), and Tab-el (Is. vii. 6).
TABLETS OF TEL EL-AMARNA 63
19. he sends 14 pieces of silver, and
20. they marched against my rear ;
2 1 . and the domains of the king my lord
22. they overran. Kelte
23. my city Ebed-tob
24. removed from my jurisdiction ;
25. 'Cos. pleasure park (?) of the king my lord
26. and the fortress of Bel-nathan ^
27. and the fortress of Hamor^ from
28. before him and his justice
29. he removed. Lab-api
30. the halting (?) in speech occupied
31. the fortress of . . . ninu and
32. now Lab-api
33. together with Ebed-tob and
34. [his men] has occupied the fortress of . . . ninu
35. . . . when the king to his servant
Lacuna,
On the Edge
1 . As regards this matter, No !
2. twice has the king returned (this) answer.
No. IIS
The commencement of the despatch is lost.
1. (And) again the city of •Pir(gar ?),*
2. a fortress which (is) in front of this country,
3. I made faithful to the king. At the same time
4. the city of Gaza * belonging to the king which (is) on
the coast of the sea
}■ Written ideographically EN-MU, in Assyrian Bil-nadin.
^ Written with the ideograph of " ass" emer, Heb. khamdr. There is
a similar play upon the name of the Amorite in the Old Testament, Gen,
xxxiv. 2, etc. compared with xlviii. 22.
^ No. X in my forthcoming Paper.
* The traces of the last character composing the name of the city seem
to show that it was gar.
^ Khazati-^i.
64 RECORDS OF THE PAST
5. westward of the land of the city of Gath-Karmel.^
6. to Urgi and the men of the city of Gath
7. fell away. I rode in my chariot (?) a second time,
■ 8. and we made a march up (out of Egypt), and
9. Lab-api
10. and the country which thou boldest
11. to the confederates 2 with
12. Melech-Ar'il 3 [attached themselves (?)] a second time,
13. and he took the children as hostages (?).
14. At the same time he utters their request
1 5. to the men of the land of Kirjath ; *
16. and then we defended the city of Urursi.^
1 7 . The men of the garrison whom thou hadst left
1 8. in it. Apis ^ my messenger all (of them)
1 9. collected. Addasi-rakan
20. in his house in the city of Gaza
1 This seems to be the meaning of the words Gin-ti-Ki-ir-mi-il-a-ki.
But the first ki may be the determinative affix of locality, in which case we
should have to read Gath-Irmila. The difficulty here is the strange name
Irmila. It may, however, be compared with that of Jarmuth, now Yarmlt
(Josh. X. 3, etc.)
^ Amili Khabiri. The Khabiri or "confederates" are spoken of in
the tablet next translated (line 13), where they are described as bordering
upon Rabbah and Keilah. The word occurs in K 890, lines 4 and 8, in
the sense of "companions" iisiu pan khahiri-ya iptar'sanni, "from the
face of my companions he has separated me " ). Its use in these despatches
as the name of a body of men who possessed territory in the south of
Palestine is very interesting, as it throws light on the origin of the name of
Hebron, and explains why the name is not met with in the Egyptian lists
of the Palestinian cities. Khebron (Hebron), in fact, denoted the "Con-
federacy" of tribes who met at the great sanctuary of Kirjath- Arba, the
termination (-o«) being that which, as in Jeshurun or Zebulon or Simeon,
distinguished territorial names. In the list of Palestinian cities given by
Thothmes III at Karnak the place of Hebron seems to be taken by
Ya^qab-el, "Jacob is El" or "god."
3 " Moloch is Ar'il." Ar'il is the Arfil or " hero " of the Moabite Stone
of the Old Testament (Isaiah xxxiii. 7) which appears as Ariel in 2 Sam.
xxiii. 20, and Isaiah xxix. 1, ^, who applies the term to Jerusalem. Like
the writer of the despatch, Isaiah considered the word to be a compound
of ^/ or il, " God."
* Qarti-k). The Kirjath meant is probably either Kirjath-Arba
(Hebron) or Kirjath-Sepher. But it may be Kirjath-Baal (Josh. xv. 60).
" Written Ururusi in the next despatch (Une 15). I cannot identify
the town.
Khapi.
TABLETS OF TEL EL-AMARNA 65
2 1. [remained]. To the land of Egypt 1 . . .
Lacuna.
On the Edge
He gave (the despatch) to the (king).
No. 1112
1. To the king my lord ^
2. speak thus :
3. Thy servant [says], even Arudi :*
4. [at the feet of the king] seven times seven do I pros-
trate myself.
5. [Thy] servant (?)... (when) a raid was made
6. by Milki the son of Marratim *
7. against the country of the king my lord,
8. at the head of the forces of the city of Gedok,^
9. the forces of the city of Gath
I o. and the forces of the city of Keilah.
1 1. They took the country of the city of Rubute^
1 2. dependent (?) on the country of the king,
1 3. belonging to the confederates ;
1 4. and again entirely
15. the city of the land of Ururusi,
16. the city of the temple of Uras, whose name is Mar-
rum,'
1 7. the city of the king dependent (?)
^ MilsriAn
^ No. Ill in my Paper on " Babylonian Tablets from Tel el-Amarna"
published in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archeology, June
1888. ^ The name may also be read Aruki.
^ Marratim means the "sea-marshes" in Assyrian, and was specially
applied to the marsh-lands in the south of Babylonia (whence the Merath-
aim of Jer. 1. 21). The scribe has transformed the title of the prince " the
king (melech or milki) the son of the salt-marshes " into two proper names,
Milki and Marratim.
^ Gaturri-ki. Gedor (Josh. xv. 58, 1 Chr. xii. 7, 2) is the modern
Ged(k north of Hebron.
' " Of the princes." The scribe, however, seems to have meant Rabbah,
" the capital," mentioned in Josh. xv. 60.
' The Aramaic mar^, "lord." We learn from coins that Mamas was
the title of the supreme god of Gaza.
VOL. II F
66 RECORDS OF THE PAST
1 8. on the district of the men of the city of Keilah.
1 9. And I overthrew [the enemies (?)] of the king . . .
The retnaining lines are too much injured for translation.
No. IV 1
1. To Dfidu^ my lord, my father,
2. I speak, even Aziru ^ thy son, thy servant ;
3. at the feet of my father I prostrate myself;
4. unto the feet of my father may there be peace !
5. O Dddu, now [the daughter (?)]
6. [of the king (?)] ray lord, Gama . . .
7 the foundation
8. of the palace of my lord the king has been laid
9. and for a temple I have founded (it).
10. This I have done : as for thee there is none (else)
11. my father; and now the plantations,
12. O Dudu, my father, set in the ground,
1 3. and I will look after the girl.
14. [And] thou (art) my father and my lord.
15. [Verily] I will look after the girl; the kings of the
Amorites (?)*
16. [are] thy . . . and my house (is) from
^ No. IX in my forthcoming Paper.
^ The Biblical Dodo (Judg, x. i, 2 Sam. xxiii. 24, i Chr. xi. 12, 26) or
Dod. The name punctuated David is also written Dod. Hitherto the
name has not been found outside the Bible and the Moabite Stone (where
king Mesha states that he carried away the arels or " heroes" of Yahveh
and Dodah), though the name of the Carthaginian goddess Dido shows that
it also existed in Phcenician. According to an Assyrian list of deities Dadu
was the name given to Hadad or Rimmon in Phoenicia and Palestine, thus
explaining the name of Bedad or Ben-Dad, ' the son of Dad," the name of
an Edomite Icing (Gen. xxxvi. 35). In Assyrian Dadu, " the beloved one,"
was an epithet applied to Tammuz the Sun-god.
» The Biblical Ezer.
* The word is Amuri, which denotes the Amorites of northern Syria
in other tablets of the collection, where, however, it is preceded by the de-
terminative of country or people. It is therefore possible that here it is the
first person of an Assyrian verb " I have seen."
TABLETS OF TEL EL-AMARNA 67
17 and the planting
18. I have directed and ....
19. the planting I have accomphshed.
20. [And] thou to the presence
21. of my [lord], in the companionship
22 the foundation-stones of the palace I laid.
The next nine lines are too mutilated for translation.
3 2. [And] I (am) the servant of the king my lord,
33. [who comes] from (fulfilling) the orders of the king my
lord
34. [and] from (fulfilling) the orders of Dudu my father.
35. I observe [all of them] until his return.
36 he sends [a messenger],
37. he sends a soldier ;
38. but let me come to thee.
No. yi
1. [To] the great [king], the king of the world, the king
[of Egypt],
2. I present myself, O creator of everything which (is) great,
3. (I) the servant of the mighty lord, to the king
4. my [lord] ; at the feet of my lord, the Sun-god,
5. seven times seven I prostrate myself. Verily is
6. the king my lord. Lo, exceedingly powerful
7. is he constituted. Lo, a mouth of judgment ^ in
8. thy presence exists. The men
9. of the city of Tsumura ^ belonging to the king (are)
subjects
10. of the king. Lo, the city of Zarak (sends) this report :
1 1. The four sons of Abd-Asi[rti] * have been captured,
^ No. XIV in my forthcoming Paper.
^ Maspudh, the Heb. mishpddh.
' The Simyra of classical writers, the Biblical Zemar (Gen. x. 18), at
the foot of Lebanon in Phoenicia.
* Abd-Asirti or Abd-Asirta is also called Abd-Asr^ti, and according to
Dr. Winckler, in one of the Tel el-Amarna tablets, now at Berlin, the
word Asr^ti is preceded by the determinative of divinity. Asrati is the
68 RECORDS OF THE PAST
12. and there is no one who has brought the news
13. to the king, as well as counsel. Behold
14. the servant of thy justice (am) I, and as for thee
15. what I have heard I have despatched to my lord.
1 6. A march has been made ^ against the city of
Tsumu[ra]
1 7. which like a bird whose nest on a precipice
18. is laid . . .
19. is exceedingly strong.
20. And as for the messengers whom
21. from the house of ... .
22. I sent, into the city of Tsumura
23. I have seen their entrance.
24. And Ya[pa]-Addu the wares (?)^
25. did not place with me.
26. They took also the men of . . .
27. his cavalry, and the stone
28. of my justice, . . . and
29. the divine image, the sceptres (and) the stone of
sovereignty,
30. the god of the oracles of the king;^ and
31. the king spoke to them.
32. And thou didst .... the (seats) thou hast se-
lected (?) *
33. as many as the king created for them.
34. And the son of the servant of the lord and the wife of
the father
plural of Asirii, which the cuneiform "syllabaries" explain by the words
"high place," "oracle," and "sanctuary." It is the asherah of the Old
Testament, mistranslated "grove" in the Authorised Version. The
Asherah was properly the upright post often seen upon Assyrian gems
which symbolised the goddess of fertility. The latter bore the name of
Ashfirah, like her symbol, among the Southern Canaanites, and corresponded
to the Ashtoreth or Astartg of Phoenicia. Abd-Asirti would signify " the
servant of Ashfirah. "
^ Or "counsel has been taken," the Assyrian milik signifying both
"march" and "counsel."
'^ Kinanatu, "female slaves" in Assyrian, but here perhaps (like the
Hebrew Chenaani, " a merchant") derived from the name of Canaan.
' Compare the Hebrew Urim and Thummim in the breastplate of the
High Priest.
* The reading and translation of this line are extremely doubtful.
TABLETS OF TEL EL-AMARNA 69
35. (even) of the god of heaven and earth, the king, have
spoken to the men.
36. (I have collected?) all my servants;
37 his ... to ... .
38 he went up ... .
39 before me, and ....
40. This line has been destroyed.
41. (Near) me there was no one at all
42. of them, whether two or three
43 and the god ^ heard
44. the words of the servant of his justice, and the god
45. brought life to his servant ;
46. and the action of his servant he enquired after a second
time,^
47. which may he requite (?) unto me, and may the great
lady
48. who (is) with thee, and the female domestics of the
palace. Verily Aziru and
49. Yapa-Addu have taken up opposition
50. towards me, and have not marched up (the country)
51. any one (of them.) They held a conference
52. with me. That place of observation
53. belonging to me, which my father gave me,
54. even the king, for ever, [implies]
55. the making of words on the part of me the servant of
[thy] justice.
56. And I rejoiced also within myself at
57. these words (which) I have uttered, even I
58. the dust of thy feet, O king !
59.0 father, thy father is not Aziru ;
60. he has not girdled ^ the world
61. with his governors and his prophesying* [and]
62. [his] god and goddesses and the god Ku . . .
d'^. [It is] the work of his servant, and ....
64. to defend (?) the house of thy father
65. against the country of Tarkumiya marched
1 That is, the Egyptian monarch.
^ Such seems to be the meaning of the expression istii sani.
3 Igur. " Sipi.
70 ItECORDS OF THE PAST
66. the sons of Abd-Asirta, and
67. there took the country of the king belonging to them
68. the king of the country of Mitana-nanu 1 and the king
69. of the country of Tarkusi and the king of the country
of the HlTTITES.^
70. The god who inspires the king, the soldiers of the king
71. along with Yankhan the servant
7 2. of the king of the country of Yarimuta ^
73. [and] the gate-keeper Milku-mi ....
74. [took with them?] ....
75 they came forth [and]
76 he sends them.
No. VI *
1. To the king of Egypt, my lord,
2. by letter
3. I speak (even I), the king of the country of Alasiya^
thy brother.
4. Unto myself (is) peace,
5. and upon thee may there be peace !
6. To thy house, thy children, thy son,
7. thy wives, thy many chariots, thy horses,
8. and in Egypt thy country
9. may there be abundance of peace !
10. O my brother, my messenger
11. a costly gift carefully
I 2. has carried to them, and has heard
13. thy salutation.
' Mitana or Mitanni lay on the eastern bank of the Euphrates north of
the Behkh according to the annals of Tiglath-pileser I. A docket attached
to one of the Tel el-Amarna tablets identifies it with the Egyptian Nahrina,
the Aram-Naharaim of the Old Testament of which Chushan-rish-athaim
was king (Judges iii. 8). What is meant by the suffix jianu I cannot
explain. " Khata.
^ Yarimuta is described in another tablet as situated upon the sea, to
the north of Phoenicia.
^ No. VI in my forthcoming Paper.
^ Alasiya is the Syrian country called Alosha or Arosha by the
Egyptologists.
TABLETS OF TEL EL-AMARNA 71
14. This man is my minister, O my brother ;
15. carefully the costly-gift
16. has he conveyed to them.
17. My minister my ship
18 has not
19. brought
20. together with them.
THE INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH
Translated by Arthur Amiaud
(Continued from Vol. I)
For an account of these interesting inscriptions,
which go back to the early dawn of Babylonian
history, and are written in the non-Semitic language
of primitive Chaldaea, the reader is referred to the
first volume of the new series of the Records of the
Past, pp. 42 sqq.
THE INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH (Continued)
Inscriptions of Ur-Bau
No. 2. — On the Stone of a Threshold^
1. For the god En-ki,
2. his king,
3. Ur-Bau,
4. the patesi
5. of Shirpurla,
6. the offspring begotten
7. by the god Nin-agal,
8. his temple
9. has constructed.
No 3. — On large Bricks'-'
1. For the god Nin-girsu,
2. the powerful warrior
3. of the god Ellilla,
4. Ur-bau
5. the patesi
6. of Shirpurla
7. his temple
8. has constructed.
No. 4. — On a small round Object of White Stone
1. For the goddess Bau
2. the daughter of Anna,
^ Dicouvertes en Chald^e par E. de Sarzec, pi. 27, No. ■^.
2 Dicouvertes, pi, 37, Nos. 1, 2.
74 RECORDS OF THE PAST
3. for the life
4. of Ur-bau
5. the patesi
6. ofSniRPURLA,
7. Ur-Ellilla has brought this da;
8. and for the life of the wife of his son
9. he has consecrated it.
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH 75
VII. Inscriptions of Gudea
No. I. — Inscription on Statue A of the Louvre ^
Cartouche engraved on the right shoulder.
1. Gudea,
2. the patesi
3. of Shirpurla,
4. who the temple E-ninn^
5. of the god NiN-GiRSU
6. has constructed.
column I
1. For the goddess Nin-gharsag,
2. the goddess who protects the city,
3. the mother of its inhabitants,
4. for his lady,
5. Gudea
6. the patesi
7. of Shirpurla
8. her temple of the city Girsu-ki
9. has constructed.
COLUMN II
1 . Her sacred altar (?)
2. he has made.
3. The holy throne of her divinity
4. he has made.
5. In her sanctuary he has placed them.
6. From the mountains of the land of Magan ^
' Dicouvertes, pi. 20. The inscription has been translated by M.
Ledrain : Communications a l Acadhnie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres,
Sept. 14th, 1883.
- The Sinaitic Peninsula.
76 RECORDS OF THE PAST
COLUMN III
I.
a rare stone he has caused to be brought ;
2.
for her statue
3-
he has caused it to be cut.
4.
" O goddess who fixes the destinies of heaven
and earth,
5-
NiN-TU
6.
mother of the gods,
7-
of Gudea
COLUMN IV
1. the builder of the temple
2. prolong the life ! "
3. by this name he has named it {t.e. the statue),
4. and in the temple he has placed it.
No. 2. — Inscription on Statue B of the Louvre'
COLUMN I
1 . In the temple of the god Nin-girsu,
2. his king,
3. the statue of Gudea,
4. the patesi
5. of Shirpurla,
6. who the temple E-NiNNt>
7. has constructed :
8. I ga of fermented liquor,
9. I ga of food,
I o. half & ga oi . . . ,
1 1, half a fa of . . . ,
I 2. such are the offerings which it institutes.
13. As for the patesi
14. who shall revoke them,
15. who the orders of the god Nin-girsu
16. shall transgress,
17. let the offerings instituted by him
18. in the temple of the god Nin-girsu
' The first column has been translated by Dr. Oppert ; Communication!
d I'Acadimie des Inscriptions et Belles-Leitres, March 1882.
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH 77
19. be revoked !
20. Let the commands of his mouth be annulled !
COLUMN II
1. To the god Nin-girsu,
2. the powerful warrior
3. of the god Ellilla,
4. Gudea,
5. the architect (?),
6. the patesi
7. of Shirpurla,
8. the shepherd chosen by the unchangeable will
9. of the god Nin-girsu,
10. regarded with a favourable eye
11. by the goddess Nina,
12. dowered with power
13. by the god Nin-dara,
14. covered with renown
15. by the goddess Bau,
16. the offspring
17. of the goddess GuTUMDUG,
18. dowered with sovereignty and the sceptre
supreme
19. by the god Gal-alim,
COLUMN III
1. proclaimed afar among living creatures
2. by the god Dun-shaga,
3. whose primacy has been firmly founded
4. by the god Nin-gish-zida
5. his god.
6. After that the god Nin-girsu
7. had turned towards his city a favourable gaze
8. (and) Gudea
9. had chosen as the faithful shepherd of the
country
10. (and) among the divisions (?) of men
1 1 . had established his power,
78 RECORDS OF THE PAST
1 2. then he purified the city and cleansed it.
13. He has laid the foundations (of a temple)
14. and deposited the foundation-cylinder.
15. The adorers of the demons (?),'^
COLUMN IV
1. the evokers of spirits (?),
2. the necromancers (?),
3. the prophetesses of divine decrees (?),
4. he has banished from the city.
5. Whoever has not departed obediently,
6. lias been expelled perforce by the warriors.
7. The temple of the god Nin-girsu
8. in all respects
9. in a pure place he has constructed.
10. No tomb has been destroyed (?),
11. no sepulchral urn has been broken (?),
12. no son has ill-treated his mother.
13. The ministers,
14. the judges,
15. the doctors,
16. the chiefs,
1 7. during the execution of this work
18. have worn garnments of . . . (?). •
19. During all the time (of its construction)
COLUMN V
1. in the cemetery of the city no ditch has been
excavated (?),
2. no corpse has been interred (?).
3. The KalU"^ has performed his funeral music or
uttered his lamentations;
4. the female mourner has not caused her lamen-
tations to be heard.
5. On the territory
6. of Shirpurla
1 I give the translation of the lines which follow, as far as col. v. I. 4,
inclusively, only with the greatest reserve.
^ The kaia were a class of priests.
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH 79
7. a man at variance (with his neighbour)
8. to the place of oath ^
9. has taken no one ;
10. a brigand
1 1 . has entered the house of no one.
12. For the god Nin-girsu
13. his king
14. (Gudea) has made the dedicatory inscrip-
tions (?) ;
15. his temple E-ninn^I which illuminates the
darkness (?),
16. he has constructed
17. and reinstated.
18. In the interior (of this temple) his favourite
gigunH
1 9. of cedar-wood
20. he has constructed for him.
2 1. After that the temple of the god Nin-girsu
22. he has had constructed,
23. the god Nin-girsu,
24. the king beloved by him,
25. from the Sea of the Highlands (Elam)^
26. to the lower Sea
27. has forcefully opened (the ways) for him.
28. In Amanum,^ the mountain of cedars,
29. [joists] of cedar,
30. whose [length] was 70 spans,
31. [and joists] of cedar
32. whose [length was] 50 spans,
33. [and joists] of box (?) *
34. whose length was 25 spans,
35. he has caused to be cut ;
36. from this mountain he has caused them to be
brought.
1 That is, a court of justice.
2 Tliat is, the Persian gulf.
2 Evidently Amanus in northern Syria.
* The Assyrian urkarinnu. For its explanation see an article by the
Rev. C. J. Ball, Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archceology, xi. p.
143-
So RECORDS OF THE PAST
37- The
38. he has made.
39- The
40. he has made.
41. The
42. he has made.
43- The
44. he has made.
45. As for the cedars
46. (some) to form great gates
47. he has employed ;
48. with brilliant ornaments he has enriched
them (?),
49. and in the temple E-ninnJ)
50. he has placed them.
51. (Others) in his sanctuary E-magh-ki-a-sig-de-da
52. he has used as beams.
53. Near the city of Ursu,
54. in the mountains of Ib-la '
55. joists ol zabanum trees,
S 6. of great sha-ku ^ trees,
57. of tulubum trees, and of gin trees,
S 8. he has caused to be cut ;
COLUMN VI
1. in the temple of E-NiNN<y
2. he has caused them to be used as beams.
3. From Shamanum
4. in the mountains of Menua,
5. from SUSALLA (?)3
6. in the mountains of Martu,*
7. nagal stones
8. he has caused to be brought ;
9. in slabs
' Dr. Hommel has proposed to read this name Dalla. I should prefer
to read Tilla, explained by Urdhu in W. A. I., ii. 48, 13.
^ It is the tree called ash-Ahu by the Assyrians.
' The reading is uncertain. Dr. Hommel reads Kasalla, comparing the
Kazalla of W. A. I., iv. 34. 31, 33. 4 Phoenicia.
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH
I o. he has caused them to be cut ;
1 1 . the Holy of Holies in the temple E-NiNNt>
12. he has constructed of them.
1 3. From TiDANUM ^
14. in the mountains of Martu
15. shirgal-ghabbia stones
1 6. he has caused to be conveyed ;
17. in the form of urpadda
1 8. he has caused them to be cut ;
19. to (receive) the bars of the gates
20. in the temple he has arranged them.
2 1. From the country of Kagal-adda-ki ^
22. in the mountains of Ki-mash ^
23. I caused copper to be taken,
24. To make the arm (?) from which one escapes not
25. he has employed it.
26. From the country of Melughgha*
27. kala trees ^ he has imported ;
28. he has caused to be made.''
29. Yrora Kihanifn''
30. he has imported ;
31. to make the arm (?)...
32. he has employed it.
33. Gold-dust
34. from the mountains of Ghaghum
35. he has imported ;
36. for the fabrication of the arm (?)...
37. he has utilised it.
38. Gold-dust
^ Identified by Dr. Homme), with much probability, with Tidnu or ' ' the
West" (Syria and Canaan) ; W. A. I., ii. 48, 12, etc.
2 Or a "city of Abullit," or perhaps the city " AbuUu-abishu,"
W. A. I., ii. 52, 55.
2 Perhaps "the land of Mash" or Arabia Petresa, the Mash of Gen.
X. 23. From Ki-mas was derived the Assyrian khnassi, "copper"
(W. A. I., ii. 18, 54 ; iv. 28, 13).
* In the vicinity of the Sinaitic Peninsula.
^ The tree called ushu by the Assyrians.
^ If this line is not due to an error, the engraver must have omitted
something between lines 27 and 28.
^ Perhaps Kilzanim is the name of a country. In this case, the engraver
must have made some omission here.
VOL. II G
82 liECORDS OF THE PAST
39. from the mountains of Melughgha
40. he has imported
41. to make the E-martu ^
42. he has employed it.
43- Lid-ri (?)
44. he has imported.
45. From the country of Gubin
46. the land of the ghahiku trees,^
47. ghaluku wood
48. he has imported ;
49. to make pillars (?)
50. he has employed it.
51. From the country of Madga
52. in the mountains of the river Gurritda
53. bitumen (?)
54. he has imported ;
55. the platform of the temple E-ninn6
56. he has constructed.
57. Im-gha-um
58. he has imported.
59. From the mountains of Barsip
60. nalua stones
61. in large boats
62. he has caused to be brought ;
63. the foundation of the temple E-ninnO he has en-
circled with them.
64. By arms, the city of Anshan in the country of Elam
65. he has conquered ;
66. its spoils
67. to the god NiN-GiRsu
68. in the temple E-ninnO
69. he has consecrated.
70. Gudea,
71. the patesi
72. of Shirpurla,
73. after that the temple E-ninn6
1 ["Temple of the West."— £rf.]
2 The tree called huluppu in Assyrian. [The Sumerian name may be
read ghalup, of which huluppu would be an Assyrian modification. Rd.\
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH 83
74. to the god NiN-GiRSU
75. he had constructed,
76. has built an edifice :
77. a ////arifrf (?) temple
COLUMN VII
1. no patesi
2. for the god Nin-girsu
3. had constructed ;
4. he has constructed it for him.
5. He has written there his name ;
6. he has made dedicatory inscriptions (?).
7. The orders of the mouth
8. of the god Nin-girsu
9. he has faithfully executed.
I o. From the mountains of the country of Magan '
11. a hard stone he has imported.
1 2. For his statue
13. he has caused it to be cut.
14. " O my king,
15. whose temple
16. I have built,
I 7. may life be my recompense ! "
18. By this name he has named (the statue),
1 9. and in the temple E-ninnO
20. he has erected it.
21. Gudea
22. unto the statue
23. has given command :
24. "To the statue of my king
25. speak ! "
26. After that the temple E-ninnO,
27. his favourite temple
28. I had constructed,
29. I have remitted penalties, I have given presents.
30. During seven days obeisance has not been exacted.
31. The female slave has been made the equal of her
mistress ;
' [The Sinaitic Peninsula and Midian.]
84 RECORDS OF THE PAST
32. the male slave
33. has been made the equal of his master ;
34. in my city the chief of his subject
35. has been made the equal.
36. All that is evil from this temple
37. I have removed.
38. Over the commands
39. of the goddess NinA
40. and the god Nin-girsu
41. I have carefully watched.
42. K fault (?) the rich man has not committed ;
43. all that he has desired (?) the strong man has not
done.
44. The house where there was no son,
45. it is its daughter, who new offerings (?)
46. has consecrated ;
47. for the statue of the god
48 before the mouth she has placed them.
49. Of this statue,
50. neither in silver nor in alabaster
5 I. nor in copper nor in tin
5 2. nor in bronze
53. let any one undertake the execution !
54. Let it be of hard stone !
55. Let a sacristy be established,
56. and of all that shall be brought there
57. let nothing be destroyed !
58. The statue which is before thee,
59. O god Nin-girsu,
60. the statue
61. of Gudea,
COLUMN VIM
1. the patesi
2. ofSniRPURLA,
3. who the temple E-ninnO
4. of the god NiN-GiRsu
5. has constructed,
6. whosoever from the temple E-NiNN<y
7. shall remove
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOII 85
8. (or) its inscription
9. shall efface ;
10. whosoever shall break it;
11. on the fortunate day of the commencement of
the year,
1 2. whoever in the place 'of my god,
13. his god —
14. and it is Nin-girsu
15. who is my king —
16. in the country shall invoke;
17. (whoever) my judgments
18. shall transgress,
19. my gifts
20. shall revoke ;
21. (whoever) in the recitation of my prayers
22. shall suppress my name
23. and insert his own;
24. (whoever) of the Holy of Holies of the god Nin-
girsu, my king,
25. shall abandon the service (?)
2 6. and shall not keep it (ever) before his eyes ; —
2 7. from the most distant days,
28. of all men of noble race,
29. of the patesis
30. of Shirpurla
31. who the temple E-ninn6
32. of the god Nin-girsu
33. my king
34. have constructed,
35. and who have made dedicatory inscriptions (?),
36. the words of their mouth
37. let no one change
38. nor transgress their judgments !
39. Of Gudea,
40. the patesi
41. of Shirpurla,
42. whoever shall change his words
43. or transgress his judgments,
44. may the god Anna,
86 RECORDS OF THE PAST
45. may the god Ellilla,
46. may the goddess Nin-gharsag
47. may the god En-ki, whose word is unchangeable,
48. may the god En-zu, whose name none pronounces,
49. may the god Nin-girsu
50. the king of weapons,
51. may the goddess Nina
52. the mistress of interpretations,
53. may the god Nin-dara
54. the royal warrior,
55. may the mother of Shirpurla
56. the august goddess Gatumdug,
57. may the goddess Bau
58. the lady the elder daughter of Anna,
59. may the goddess Ninni
60. the lady of battles,
61. may the god Babbar
62. the king of abundance (?),
63. may the god Pasag
64. the master workman of men,
65. may the god Gal-alima,
66. may the god Dun-shagana,
67. may the goddess Nin-marki
COLUMN IX
1. the eldest daughter of the goddess Nina,
2. may the goddess Duzi-abzu
3. the mistress of Kinunir-ki,
4. may my god Nin-gishzida,
5. change his destiny !
6. Like an ox,
7. may he be slain in the midst of his prosperity !
8. Like a wild bull
9. may he be felled in the plenitude of his strength !
10. As for his throne, may those even whom he has re-
duced to captivity
1 1. overthrow it in the dust !
1 2. To efface its traces (?),
13. even of its memory (?),
in^VKirilUJM:^ ur lai.i^OH 87
1 4. may they apply their care !
15. His name, in the temple of his god
1 6. may they efface from the tablets !
1 7. May his god
18. for the ruin of the country have no look (of pity) !
1 9. May he ravage it with rains from heaven !
20. May he ravage it with the waters of the earth !
2 I. May he become a man without a name !
2 2. May his princely race be reduced to subjection !
23. May this man,
24. like every man who has acted evilly towards his chief,
25. afar, under the vault of heaven, in no city whatsoever
26. find a habitation !
27. Of the champion of the gods,
28. the lord Nin-girsu,
29. the greatness
30. may the peoples proclaim !
No. 3. — Inscription on Statue C of the Louvre.'
COLUMN I
1. The god NiN-GiSH-ziDA
2. is the god of Gudea,
3. the patesi
4. of Shirpurla,
5. who the temple E-Anna
6. has constructed.
COLUMN II
r. To the goddess Ninni,
2. the mistress of the world,
3. to his lady,
4. Gudea
5. the architect (?),
6. the patesi
7. of Shirpurla,
' Partially translatea by Dr. Hommel ; Die Vorsemitischen KuUuren,
p, 460.
88 RECORDS OF THE PAST
8. who the temple of E-ninn6
9. of the god NiN-GiRsu
10. has constructed.
1 1. After that the goddess Ninni
12. her favourable regard
1 3. had cast upon him,
1 4. Gudea,
1 5. the patesi
16. of Shirpurla,
17. a man endowed with large understanding,
1 8. a servant to his mistress
19. devoted,
20. to make the tablet-like amulets (?)
21. has ordered (?);
2 2. of the ka-al
23. he has caused the splendour to shine.
COLUMN III
1. His clay (for the construction of the temple) in a
pure place
2. he has caused to be taken ;
3. his bricks
4. in a holy place
5. he has caused to be moulded.
6. Its site (?)
7. he has cleaned and levelled (?) ;
8. \\s, foundation (?)
9. in the ....
10. he has iirmly established (?).
1 1. The favourite temple (of the goddess),
12. the temple of E-anna in Girsu-ki,
13. he has built.
14. From the mountains of the land of Magan
15. a rare stone he has imported ;
1 6. for her statue
17. he has caused it to be cut.
18. "Of Gudea,
1 9. the builder of the temple
INSCRIPTION'S OF TELLOH
COLUMN IV
1 . may she prolong the life ! "
2. by this name he has named it (i.e. the statue),
3. and in the temple of E-anna
4. he has placed it.
5. Whoever from the temple of E-anna
6. shall remove it,
7. shall break it,
8. (or) shall efface its inscription,
9. may the goddess Ninni,
10. the mistress of the world,
1 1 . from top to bottom ^
1 2. overthrow him !
13. Of his throne established
14. the foundations
1 5. may she not maintain !
16. may she annihilate his race !
17. may she cut off the years of his reign !
No. 4. — Inscription on Statue D of the Louvre.^
Cartouche on the right shoulder.
I. Gudea,
2. the patesi
3. of Shirpurla.
column I
1. To the god Nin-girsu, .
2. the powerful warrior
3. of the god Ellilla,
4. to his king,
5. Gudea,
6. the patesi
7. of Shirpurla,
8. the architect (?)
9. the constructor of the (sacred) bark
1 Literally "his head in his foundations."
2 Dicouvertes, pi. 9. Translated by Dr. Oppert in a Communication
a CAcadiinie des Inscriptions, June Z3d 1882.
90 RECORDS OF THE PAST
10. of the god Ellilla,
1 1, the shepherd chosen by the immutable will
1 2. of the god NiN-GiRSU,
13. the powerful minister
14. of the goddess Nina,
15. covered with renown
16. by the goddess Bau,
17. the offspring begotten
18. by the goddess Gatumdug,
1 9. endowed with sovereignty and the sceptre supreme
COLUMN II
1. by the god Gal-alim,
2. proclaimed afar among living creatures
3. by the god Dun-shagana,
4. the governor
5. who loves his city,
' 6. (who) has made dedicatory (?) inscriptions,
7. (and who) his temple of E-ninnO, which illumines
the darkness,
8. has constructed.
9. In the interior (of the temple) his favourite gigunii ^
I o. he has made for him of cedar-wood.
1 1. The temple of E-ghud, his temple in 7 stages,
1 2. he has constructed.
13. In this temple the offerings
1 4. of the goddess Bau
COLUMN III
1. his lady
2. he has regulated.
3. His favourite bark . . .
4 named Kar-nun-ta-ea ^
5. he has caused to be made ;
6. on the Kar-zagin-ka-surra ^
' [Perhaps related to ^<{^a»i2, "afield." — Ed.'\
^ [I should render : "the quay which comes forth from the lord. " — Ed. ]
•* Perhaps the name of a canal. [I should translate it: "the quay
which runs from the white stone of the gate." — Ed.l
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH 91
7- he has placed it.
8. The crew of this bark . . .
9. and its captain
10. he has organised.
1 1. The temple of his lord
1 2. to the summit he has raised (?).
13. For the goddess Bau,
14. the good lady,
15. the daughter of Anna,
16. for his lady
17. her temple of Uru-azagga
COLUMN IV
1. he has constructed.
2. By the power of the goddess Nina,
3. by the power of the god Nin-girsu,
4. to Gudea
5. who has endowed with the sceptre
6. the god Nin-girsu,
7. the country of Magan,'-
8. the country of Melughgha,
9. the country of Gubi,^
I o. and the country of Nituk,^
1 1. which possess every kind of tree,
1 2. vessels laden with trees of all sorts
13. into Shirpurla
14. have sent.
1 5. From the mountains of the land of Magan
1 6. a rare stone he has caused to come ;
1 7. for his statue
COLUMN V
1. he has caused it to be cut.
2. " O king, for the force immense which
3. no country can resist (?),
4. O god Nin-girsu,
5. for Gudea
[The Sinaitic Peninsula. ] ^ Perhaps Coptos in Egypt.
' The Tilmun of the Assyrians, in the Persian Gulf.
92 RECORDS OF THE PAST
6. the builder of the temple
7. appoint a prosperous fate ! "
8. by this name he has named (the statue),
9. (and) in the temple of E-ninnu
10. he has placed it.
No. 5.— Inscription on Statue E of the Louvre.
Cartouche on the right shoulder.
1. Gudea,
2. the patesi
3. of Shirpurla.
COLUMN 1
1. To the goddess Bau,
2. the good lady,
3. the daughter of Anna,
4. the mistress of Uru-azagga,
5. the mistress of abundance,
6. the lady who fixes the destinies of GiRSU-Ki,
7. the lady who judges her city,
8. the lady beloved of mortals (?),
9. the lady of death (?),
10. to his lady,
11. Gudea
12. the patesi
13. of Shirpurla,
14. who (the temple) of E-ninnO
15. of the god NiN-GiRSu
16. has constructed.
1 7. After that the goddess Bau
1 8. his mistress
19. in her august heart had chosen him
COLUMN II
1 . as a servant full of reverential fear,
2. for his mistress
3. the greatness of his mistress
4. he has proclaimed,
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH 93
s-
(and) in his clear intelligence (?]
6.
to the goddess Bau
7-
his lady
8.
has entrusted himself.
9-
As the temple of E-NiNNi^y,
10.
the favourite temple
II.
of the god NiN-GiRSU
1 2.
his king
13-
he had constructed,
14.
so for the goddess Bau
IS-
the daughter of Anna
16.
the mistress of Uru-azagga,
17-
his mistress,
18.
the temple of E-sil-sirsira,
19.
her favourite temple,
20.
he has constructed ;
21.
the city he has cleansed (?),
22.
and levelled (?) ;
COLUMN III
1. to make tablet-like amulets (?)
2. he has given orders (?) ;
3. of the ka-al
4. he has caused the splendour to shine.
5. Its clay (for the construction of the temple) in a
pure place
6. he has caused to be taken ;
7. its bricks in a holy place
8. he has caused to be moulded.
9. The brick-like amulets (?) he has caused to be
made ;
10. the dedicatory inscriptions he has composed (?).i
1 1 Its site he has cleansed (?)
12. and levelled (?) ;
1 3. its foundations (?)
14. in the ....
15. he has firmly established (?).
1 Perhaps the foundation-cylinders and clay cones with dedicatory
inscriptions.
94 RECORDS OF THE PAST
1 6. For the goddess Bau,
17. his mistress,
18. the mistress who Uru-azagga
19. directs,
20. in Uru-azagga,
COLUMN IV
1. in a pure place,
2. he has built the temple.
3. The holy throne
4. of his divinity
5. he has made ;
6. in the place of her oracles
7. he has installed it.
8. Her sacred altar (?)
9. he has made ;
I o. in her sanctuary
11. he has placed it.
1 2. The tabernacle (?) (called) Nin-an-dagal-ki 1
1 3. he has made ;
14. in her sanctuary
15. he has installed it.
COLUMN V
1. At the commencement of the year,
2. the festival of the goddess Bau
3. when offerings are made to her, —
4. I ox she^
5. I sheep ni^
6. 3 sheep she,
7. 6 sheep nsh,^
8. 2 lambs,
9. 7 pat of dates,
10. 7 shab of cream,
11. 7 shoots of a palm,
1 [" The lady of the place of the maternal deity." — Ed.\
2 ["Young?"— £rf.] ' ["Fat?"— £1/.] * [" Male?"— £rf.]
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH 95
12. 7 .... ,
13- 7 • • • ■ ,
14. I bird . . . ,
15. 7 swans,
16. 15 cranes,
1 7. I bird (?) . . . ,
18. with its 15 eggs (?),
19. I tortoise (?)
20. with its 30 eggs (?),
21. 30 garments of wool,
22. 7 garments of . . . ,
COLUMN VI
1. I garment of . . . ,
2. (such were) the offerings of the goddess Bau
3. in the ancient temple
4. on that day.
5. Gudea,
6. the patesi
7. of Shirpurla,
8. after that for the god Nin-girsu
9. his king
10. his favourite temple,
11. the temple of E-ninnA,
12. he had constructed,
1 3. (and after that) for the goddess Bau
14. his mistress
15. her favourite temple,
16. the temple of E-sil-sirsira,
1 7. he had constructed, — ■
18. 2 oxen she,
19. 2 sheep ni,
20. 10 sheep she,
21. 2 lambs,
22. 7 /a^ of dates,
23.7 shab of cream,
24. 7 shoots of a palm,
25. 7 .... ,
96 RECORDS OF THE PAST
COLUMN VII
I.
7 .... ,
2.
14 .... ,
3.
14 . . . . ,
4-
I bird . . . ,
5-
7 swans,
6.
15 cranes,
7-
7 birds . . . ,
8.
I bird (?)...
9.
with its 15 eggs (?),
10.
I tortoise (?)
II.
with its 30 eggs (?),
12.
40 garments of wool,
13-
7 garments of . . . ,
14.
I garment of . . . ,
15.
(such are) the offerings to the
goddess Bau,
16.
which in the new temple
17.
Gudea,
18.
the patesi
19.
of Shirpurla,
20.
the builder of the temple
21.
has added.
22.
The temple of the goddess Bau
23-
having been restored,
24.
its prosperity
COLUMN VIII
1 . having been assured ;
2. of the throne of Shirpurla
3. the foundation having been strengthened ;
4. for Gudea,
5. the patesi
6. of Shirpurla,
7. the sceptre of command
8. having been placed in the hand ;
9. of his life
10. the days having been prolonged;
1 1. (then) his god
12. Nin-gish-zida
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH 97
13. and the goddess Bau
14- into his temple of Uru-azagga
15- he has introduced.
16. In that year
17. from the mountains of the land of Magan
1 8. he has caused a rare stone to be brought ;
19. for his statue
20. he has caused it to be cut.
COLUMN IX
I. " O my mistress . . .
2
3 !"
4. by this name he has named (the statue),
5. and in the temple he has placed it.
6. (This) statue
7. of the man who the temple of the goddess Bau
8. has constructed,
9. let no one from the place of its installation
10. remove it !
ri. His prescriptions
12. let no one transgress !
No. 6.— Inscription on Statue F of the Louvre'
Cartouche on right shoulder.
1. Gudea,
2. the patesi
3. of Shirpurla,
4. the man of the goddess Gatumdug.
1. To the goddess Gatumdug,
2. the mother of Shirpurla,
3. Gudea
4. the patesi
5. of Shirpurla,
' Ddcouvertes, pi. 14.
VOL. II ^
98 RECORDS OF THE PAST
6. the man of the goddess Gatumdug,
7. thy favourite servant,
8. who has made the dedicatory (?) inscriptions,
9. (and) the temple of E-NiNNt> which illuminates the
darkness (?),
I o. (the temple) of the god Nin-girsu
11. (who) has constructed,
12. the goddess Gatumdug
13. his lady,
14. who in Shirpurla,
15. her favourite city,
1 6. for the supreme rank (?)
COLUMN II
1 . has created him,
2. the temple of the goddess Gatumdug
3. his lady
4. to construct
5. has given him the order.
6. Gudea
7. the patesi
8. of Shirpurla,
9. a man endowed with large intelligence,
10. a servant filled with reverential fear
11. for his mistress,
12. to make tablet-like amulets (?)
13. has commanded (?) ;
1 4. of the ka-al
15. he has caused the splendour to shine.
16. The clay (for the construction of the temple) in a
pure place
17. he has caused to be taken ;
18. its bricks in a holy place
19. he has caused to iDe moulded.
COLUMN III
1. Its site he has cleansed (?)
2. and levelled (?) ;
3. its foundation (?)
INSCJilPTIONS OF TELLOH 99
4-
in the . . .
5-
he has firmly established (?).
6.
In Uru-azagga, in a pure place,
7-
he has built the temple.
8.
The holy throne of her divinity
9-
he has made.
10.
Her sacred altar (?)
II.
he has made.
12.
The oxen il-la'^
13-
he has formed into a herd,
14.
their herdsman
15-
he has established.
16.
To the sacred cows
17-
he has added sacred calves ;
18.
their drover
19.
he has established.
20.
To the sacred sheep
21.
he has added sacred lambs ;
22.
their shepherd
23-
he has established.
24.
To the sacred she-goats
25-
he has added sacred kids ;
26.
their goatherd
27.
he has established.
28.
Each herd (?) of dams, whatever be the species.
29.
with a herd (?) of younglings in addition
30-
he has increased.
31-
Their guardian
32-
he has established.
No. 7.— Inscription on Statue G of the Louvre
COLUMN I
1. To the god Nin-girsu,
2. the powerful warrior
3. of the god Ellilla,
4. to his king,
' See W. A. I., i. 66, iii. 9.
RECORDS OF THE PAST
5. Gudea
6. the patesi
7. ofSniRPURLA,
8. who the temple of E-ninn<>
9. of the god NiN-GiRSU
10. has constructed,
1 1. for the god Nin-girsu
1 2 . his king,
13. the temple of E-ghud, the temple of the 7 stages,
14. this temple of E-ghud,
15. from the summit whereof
16. the god NiN-GiRSU
17. dispenses favourable fortunes,
18. he has constructed.
COLUMN II
1. (Besides) the offerings
2. which in the joy of his heart
3. to the god Nin-girsu
4. to the goddess Bau,
5. the daughter of Anna,
6. his favourite wife,
7. he presented,
8. for his god
9. NiN-GISH-ZIDA
10. he has established others also.
11. Gudea
12. the patesi
13. of Shirpurla
14. from GiRSU-Ki
15. to Uru-azagga
16. has proclaimed peace.
17. In that year,
COLUMN III
1. from the mountains of the country of Magan
2. he has caused a rare stone to be brought ;
3. for his statue
4. he has caused it to be cut.
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH
Here i o lines have been left blank, it having been intended
to fill thetn up with the name of the statue.
5. On the day of the commencement of the year,
6. the festival of the goddess Bau,
7. when the offerings are presented, —
8. I ox she'^
9. I sheep ni^
10. 3 sheep she,
COLUMN IV
1. 6 sheep ush^
2. 2 lambs,
3. 7 pat of dates,
4. 7 shab of cream,
5. 7 shoots of a palm,
6. 7
7-7
8. I bird
9. 7 swans,
10. 15 cranes,
11. I bird (?)....
12. with its 15 eggs (?),
13. I tortoise (?)
14. with its 30 eggs (?),
15. 30 garments of wool,
16. 7 garments of . . .
17. I garment of ... .
18. (such were) the offerings to the goddess Bau
19. in the ancient temple
20. on that day.
21. Gudea
COLUMN V
1. the patesi
2. of Shirpurla,
3. after that for his god Nin-girsu
4. his king
1 [" Young " 1—Ed.'\ 2 [■ ■ Fat ■■ 1—Ed. ]
3 ["Male"?— £rf.]
RECORDS OF THE PAST
5. his favourite temple,
6. the temple of E-ninnO,
7. he had constructed,
8. (and after that) for the goddess Bau,
9. his mistress,
10. her favourite temple,
1 1. the temple of E-sil-sirsira
1 2. he had constructed,
13. 2 oxen she,
14. 2 sheep ni,
15. 10 sheep she,
16. 2 lambs,
17. 7 /a/ of dates,
18. 7 shab of cream,
19. 7 shoots of a palm,
20. 7
21. 7
22. 14
COLUMN VI
I- 14
2. I bird
3. 7 swans,
4. 10 cranes,
5. 7 birds
6. I ^;>(/ (?)
7. with its 1 5 eggs (?),
8. I tortoise (?)
9. with its 30 eggs (?),
I o. 40 garments of wool,
11. 7 garments of . . .
12. I garment of ... .
13. (such are) the offerings to the goddess Bau
14. which in the new temple
15. Gudea
16. the patesi
r 7. of Shirpurla,
18. the constructor of the temple,
19. has added.
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH 103
No. 8. — Inscription on Statue H of the Louvre
1. To the goddess Bau,
2. the good lady,
3. the daughter of Anna,
4. the mistress of Uru-azagga,
5. the mistress of abundance, the daughter of the
bright sky,
6. to his mistress
7. Gudea
8. the patesi
9. of Shirpurla.
COLUMN 11
1. After that the temple of E-sil-sirsira,
2. her favourite temple,
3. the temple which is the marvel of Uru-azagga
4. he had caused to be constructed,
5. from the mountains of the country of Magan,
6. a rare stone he has caused to be brought ;
7. for her statue
8. he has caused it to be cut.
COLUMN III
1. " O divine daughter, beloved by the bright sky,
2. mother Bau,
3. in the temple of E-sil-sirsira
4. to Gudea
5. give life ! "
6. by this name he has named (the statue),
7. and in the temple of Uru-azagga
8. he has placed it.
Inscription on a stone serving as the threshold
OF A DOOR^
I. For the god Nin-girsu,
1 Dicouvertes, pi. 27, No. 3.
104 RECORDS OF THE PAST
2. the powerful warrior
3. of the god Ellilla,
4. for his king,
5. Gudea
6. the patesi
7. of Shirpurla
8. has made the dedicatory inscriptions (?),
9. (and) his temple of E-NiNNt>, which illumines the
darkness,
10. has constructed,
11. and restored.
Inscriptions on two unpublished votive tablets
1. For the goddess Ninni,
2. the mistress of the world,
3. for his mistress,
4. Gudea
5. the patesi
6. of Shirpurla
7. her temple of E-anna in Girsu-ki
8. has constructed.
1. For the god Gal-alim,
2. the favourite son
3. of the god NiN-GiRSU,
4. for his king,
5. Gudea
6. the patesi
7. of Shirpurla
8. his temple of E-me-ghush-gal-an-ki
9. has constructed.
Unpublished Inscription on a Brick
1. For the god Nin-girsu,
2, the powerful warrior
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH 105
3. of the god Ellilla,
4. for his king,
5. Gudea
6. the patesi
7. of Shirpurla
8. his temple of ENiNN<!r, which illumines the darkness (?),
9. has constructed.
10. In the interior of this temple, a sanctuary of cedar wood,
11. the place of his oracles,
12. he has constructed for him.
Inscription on a Brick'
1. For the goddess Nina,
2. the lady of destinies (?),
3. the lady of oracles (?),
4. for his lady,
5. Gudea
6. the patesi
7. of Shirpurla
8. has made the dedicatory inscriptions (?).
9. In NiNA-Ki, her favourite city,
I o. her temple of E-ud-ma-Nina-ki-tag ^
11. which rises from the Kur-e^
12. he has constructed.
1 Dicouvertes, pi. 37, No. 3. See the inscription on a cone supposed
to come from Zerghul (W. A. I. i. 5, No. xxiii. 2). The attributes in lines
2 and 3 of the cone oblige us to restore dingir Nind, ' ' the goddess NinS,"
in the first line.
2 ["The house of light which illuminates the shipof Nina-ki." — Ed.]
3 ["The mountain of the temple." — Ed.'\
io6 RECORDS OF THE PAST
"VIII. Inscriptions of Ur-nin-girsu ^
No. I. — Inscription on a Brick ^
1. Ur-nin-girsu,
2. the priest of the god Anna,
3. the priest of the god En-ki,^
4. the favourite priest of the goddess Nina.
No. 2. — Inscription on a Brick''
1. To the god Nin-girsu,
2. the powerful warrior
3. of the god Ellilla,
4. for his king,
5. Ur-nin-girsu,
6. the patesi
7. of Shirpurla
8. the son of Gudea,
g. the patesi
I o. of Shirpurla
11. who the temple of E-ninnO
12. of the god Nin-girsu
13. has constructed.
1 4. His favourite gigunil ^
15. of cedar- wood
16. he has constructed for him.
' ["The creature of the god NiN-GiRsu." — Ed.'\
" Dicouvertes, pi. 37, No. 8. ' [Or " Ea."— £rf.]
* Dlcouvertes, pi. 37, No. 9.
' [Perhaps related to ^4?"" ^'i "afield." — Ed.'\
INSCRIPTIONS OF TELLOH 107
IX. Inscription of Nam-maghAni
On a Stone from the Threshold of a Door^
1. For the goddess Bau,
2. the good lady,
3. the daughter of Anna,
4. the mistress of Uru-azagga,
5. his mistress,
6. Nam-maghani,
7. the patesi
8. of Shirpurla,
9. her powerful minister,
I o. as the stone of a threshold ^
II. has made this.
1 Dicouvertes, pi. 27, No. 1.
^ Literally "the stone of the foundation of a gate.''
io8
RECORDS OF THE PAST
I.
2.
3-
4-
5-
6.
I.
2.
3-
4-
5-
6.
X. Inscription of Ghala-lamma
On the Fragment of a Statue ^
COLUMN I
To the god . . .]ra,
the daughter of the goddess] Bau
for his] mistress,
for] the hfe
of Dun]gi,
the] puissant [prince],
COLUMN II
the king of Ur,
the king of Shumer and Accad,
Ghala-lamma,
the son of Lukani,
the patesi
of Shirpurla.
Published in the Revue ArchMogique, i886, pi. 7, No.
INSCRIPTIONS C/-- TlilLOH 109
XI. Inscriptions of Dungi, King of Ur
No. I. — Inscription on a Tablet'
I.
For the god Nin-girsu,
2. the powerful warrior
3. of the god Ellilla,
4. for his king,
5- Dungi
6. the puissant prince,
7. the king of Ur,^
8. the king of Shumer and Accad,^
9. the temple of E-ninnO
10. his favourite temple
11. has constructed.
No. 2. — Inscription on a Tablet''
1. For the goddess Nina,
2. the lady of destinies (?),
3. the lady of oracles (?),
4. for his mistress,
5. Dungi
6. the puissant prince,
7. the king of Ur,
8. the king of Shumer and Accad,
9. the temple of E-shish-shish-e-ma-ra,
10. her favourite temple,
11. has constructed.
' Dicouvertes, pi. 29, No. 3.
2 [Ur, the city of Abraham, now Mugheir. — Ed.'\
2 [Shumer and Accad were the southern and northern divisions of
B,nbyIoma, Accad taking its name from the city of Agade or Accad near
Sippara. — Ed. ]
^ Ddcouvertes, pi, 29, No. 4.
THE ASSYRIAN CHRONOLOGICAL
CANON
By the Editor
Chronological records were kept in Assyria by
the help of certain officers called limmi, who corre-
sponded to the eponymous archons of Greek history.
At the beginning of each year a limmu or eponym
was appointed, who gave his name to the year. In
the age of the first Assyrian Empire it was customary
for the king to commence his reign by taking the
office ; later, the year in which the king became
eponym was regulated by no fixed rule. Shal-
maneser II held the office twice during his long reign
of thirty-five years — once in the first year of his
reign and again in his thirtieth year. Otherwise
there is no example of the same king being twice
eponym. The system was of ancient origin. An
inscription of Rimmon-nirari I, the great-grandson
of Assur-yuballidh and the father of Shalmaneser I,
is dated in the eponymy of a certain Shalmaneser
who may have been his son. The date of Shal-
maneser I is approximately determined by an
inscription engraved on a seal belonging to his son
THE ASSYRIAN CANON
Tiglath-Uras I. The seal had been carried away to
Babylon and there recovered by Sennacherib " 600
years " afterwards, so that its deportation must have
taken place about B.C. 1290. Whether it was carried
away during the reign of Tiglath-Uras or after his
death, we cannot say ; in any case Shalmaneser —
who, it may be added, was the builder of the city of
Calah — would have lived before the close of the
fourteenth century B.C.
Lists of eponyms drawn up in their chronological
order were carefully kept, as well as other lists in
which notice was taken of the principal events
occurring during their term of office. Fragmentary
copies of these lists have been preserved, thus en-
abling us to restore the chronology of the Assyrian
Empire during the most important period of its ex-
istence. The copies were first brought to light by
Sir Henry Rawlinson, who gave them the name of
the Assyrian Canon, and pointed out their character
and bearing on the vexed questions of chronology
in the pages of the Athenceiim (1862). Four of the
copies have been published in the Cuneiform Inscrip-
tions of Western Asia, vol. ii. pll. 52, 68, 69; and
vol. iii. pi. I. None of them is complete, but a com-
parison of the several texts supplies their individual
deficiencies, and allows us to compile a continuous
Assyrian chronology from B.C. 893, or 909 (if we
accept Mr. George Smith's restoration), to B.C. 659.
Two fixed dates are given within this period by the
capture of Samaria B.C. 722, which took place in the
RECORDS OF THE PAST
first year of the reign of Sargon, and the solar edipse
of the 15th of June B.C. 763, which occurred in the
ninth year of the reign of Assur-dan III. A Hne
drawn across the tablet marks the commencement
of a new reign.
An exhaustive account of the Canon has been
given by George Smith in his Assyrian Eponym
Canon (Bagster and Sons), and a translation of it,
with dates and notes attached, will be found in Prof
Schrader's Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testa-
ment, vol. ii. (English translation 1888); and Keil-
inschriftliche Bibliothek,vo\.\. (1889). Supplement-
ary copies of the Canon from fragments in the British
Museum have also been published by Prof Fr.
Delitzsch in the second edition of his Assyrische
LesestUcke, and by Dr. Bezold in the Proceedings of
the Society of Biblical ArchcBology for May 1889.
Two different versions of the Canon were current
in Assyria, one containing merely a list of the
eponyms in their chronological order, while the other
added their titles and the principal events which dis-
tinguished their term of office. We may call the
latter the Assyrian Chronicle.
THE ASSYRIAN CANON
B.C.
909.
... pa 1
908.
. . . mur
907.
. . . mu
906.
. . . iddin
905.
• • • tag-gil (?)
904.
Muh (?)... ma
903-
Assur-dan . . .
902.
Assur-sallim-ni . .
901.
Mas . . .
900.
Abu-iliya ^
899.
Assur-taggil (?)
898.
Assur . . .
A break of four years '
893. . . . sarra . . .
892. Uras-zar-ibni
891. Dhaba-edhir . . .
B.C.
890.
Assur-la-yukin . . .
889.
888.
887.
886.
885.
884.
Tiglath-Uras * the king
Taggil-ana-beli-ya
Abu-A^
Ilu-milki ^
Yari
Assur-sezib-ani ^
883. Assur - natsir - pal
king
882. Assur-iddin
881. Bel-Sin (?)»
880. Sa-same-damqa
879. Dagon-bela-natsir
878. Uras-pi-ya-utsur
the
' From the form of the fragment on which this and the following twelve
names are preserved, it has been conjectured by George Smith that the first
year of the reign of Rimmon-nirari II, the father and predecessor of Tig-
lath-Uras II, was B.C. gii.
^ Or perhaps Abu-A, like the eponym of B.C. 887.
' According to George Smith.
* Or Tiglath-Baru. He is the second king of the name known to us.
' Not Malik. For the god or goddess A, the wife of the Sun-god, see
my Hibbert Lectures on The Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, pp 177
sqq.
" The Biblical Elimelech, " El is Moloch."
' " O Assur save me ! "
^ The reading of the name is doubtful. It is differently written in the
Annals of Assur-natsir-pal, ii. 49. Perhaps it should be pronounced Bel-
aku.
VOL. II I
114
RECORDS OF THE PAST
[ac.
B.C.
877.
Uras-bela-utsur
849.
Nergal-alik-pani
876.
Sangu-Assur-lilbur ^
848.
Bur-Ramana ^
875-
Samas-yupakhir ^
847.
Uras-mukin-nisi
874.
Nergal-bel-kumua
846.
Uras-nadin-suma
873.
Qurdi-Assur
845-
Assur-bani-pal-a
872.
Assur-lih
844.
Dhabu-Uras
871.
Assur-natgil
843-
Taggil-ana-sarri
870.
Bel-mudammiq
842.
Rimmon-rim-ani
869.
Dan-Uras
841.
Belu-abua
868.
Istar-it . . .
840.
Sulmu-bela-ramur
867.
Samas-nuri
839-
Uras-kib'si-utsur
866.
Mannu-danan-ana-ila
838.
Uras-A
865.
Samas-bela-utsur
837.
Qurdi-Assur
864.
Uras-A
836.
Ner-sarri *
863.
Uras-edhir-anni
835-
Nergal-mudammiq
862.
Assur-A
834.
Yakhalu
861.
Nergal-kakka(?)-danin
833.
Ulula6
860.
Dhabu-Belu
832.
Surru-pati-beli
859-
Sarru-nes-nisi
831.
Nergal-A
830.
829.
Kiiuba
Ilu-kin-akha
858.
Sulmanu-asaridu (Shal-
maneser II) the
828.
Sulmanu - asaridu *
king
(Shalmaneser) the
857.
Assur-bela-kainni
king
856.
Assur-bani-pal-a-utsur
827.
Dan-Assur
8S5-
Abu-ina-ekalli-lilbur
826.
Assur-bani-pal-a-utsur
854-
Dan-Assur
825.
Yakhalu
853.
Samas-abua
824.
Bel-bani-pal-a
852.
Samas-bela-utsur
Belu-bani-pal-a
823.
851.
Samas - Rimmon ' the
850.
Khadi-lipusu
king
1
' May the priest of Assur live Ic
3ng ! "
2
Also given as Samas-yubla.
8
Also written Bir-Raman (Bir-Ri
mmon).
4
3r perhaps Ner-Istar.
B
'(Born) in the month Elul."
Shalmaneser was twice eponym
7
'The Sun-god is Rimmon,"
like the
name of Hadad- Rimmon,
" Hadad is Rimmon," in Zecli. xii.
II.
THE ASSYRIAN CANON
"S
B.C.
B.C.
822.
Yakhalu
795-
Kin-abfla
821.
Bel-dan
794-
Mannu-kt-Assur
S20.
Uras-yubla
793-
Musallim-Uras
819.
Samas-A
792.
Bel-qaisani
818.
Nergal-A
791.
Ner-Samas
817.
Assur-bani-pal-a-utsur
790.
Uras-kin-akha
816.
Sarru-pati-beli
789.
Rimmon-musammir
815.
Bel-baladh
788.
Tsil-Istari
814.
Musiknis
787.
Baladhu ^
813.
Nergal-(utsur)
786.
Rimmon-yuballidh ^
812.
Samas-kumua
785-
Merodach-sarra-utsur
811.
Bel-qati-tsabat
784.
Nebo-sarra-utsur ^
783.
Uras-natsir
/
782.
Samu-lih
810.
Rimmon - nirari the
king
809.
Nergal-A
781.
Sulmanu-asaridu* the
808.
Belu-dan
king
Samsi-ilu ^
807.
Tsil-beli
780.
806.
Assur-taggil
779-
Merodach-rim-ani
805.
778.
Bel-esir
804.
Nergal-esses
777-
Nebo-isdi-ya-yukin
803.
Assur-nes-nisi
776.
Pan-Assuri-la-khabal "^
802
Uras-A
775
Nergal-esses
801
Ner-Istar
774
Istar-duru
800
Merodach-isip i-anni
773
Mannu-ki-Rimmon
799
Mutaggil-Merodach
772
Assur-bela-utsur
798
Bel-tartsi-same
Assur-bela-utsur
797
796
Merodach-sadu-ni
771
Assur-dan the king
1
The ideograph khal represent
5 asAjru,
"to prophesy" or "divine.'
See the name of the eponym for B.C. 670.
2 According to other lists, Nebo-sarra-utsur. The proper eponym of
the year may have died during his term of office, and a supplementary
eponym appointed in his place.
3 Omitted in the Chronicle. * Shalmaneser III.
5 "The Sun-god is El " or "god," like Jiphthah-el in Josh. xix. 14, or
the Palestinian town of Ya'aqab-el ("Jacob is El," ? Hebron) and Yeseph-
el ("Joseph is El"), mentioned by the Egyptian king Thothmes III.
6 Or moreprobably Pan-Assur-la'mur, " ' "" '
cf. Exodus xxxiii. 20.
' I see not the face of Assur ; '
ii6
RECORDS OF THE PAST
B.C.
B.C.
770.
Samsi-ilu
744-
Bel-din
769.
Bel-A
1
768.
Abla-ai
767.
Qurdi-Assur
743-
Tiglath-pileser the king
766.
Musallim-Uras
742.
Nebo-danin-anni
765.
Uras-mukin-nisi
741.
Bel - Kharran - bela-
764.
Tsidqi-ilu 2
utsur ^
763-
Isid-Raki's-rabe
740.
Nebo-edhir-anni
762.
Dhabu-Bel
739-
Sin-taggil
761.
Nebo-kin-akhi
738.
Rimmon-bela-yukin
760.
Laqibu
737-
Bel-emur-anni
759-
Pan-Assur-l'amur
736.
Uras-A
758.
Ana-beli-taggil *
735-
Assur-sallim-anni
757-
Uras-iddin
734-
Bel-dan
756.
Bel-sadua
733-
Assur-danin-anni
755-
Iqi'su*
732-
Nebo-bela-utsur
754-
Uras-sezib-ani
731-
Nergal-yuballidh
73°-
729.
728.
Bel-ludari
753-
752-
Assur-nirari the king
Samsi-ilu
Napkhar-ilu
Dur-Assur
751.
Merodach-sallim-anni
Bel-dan
75°-
749-
Samas-m ukin-duruk
727.
Bel-Kharran-bela-utsur
748.
Rimmon-bela-yukin ^
726.
Merodach-bela-utsur
747-
Sin-sallim-anni
725-
Makhde
746.
Nergal-natsir
724.
Assur-isip-anni
723-
Sulmanu - asaridu (the
king)
745-
Nebo-bela-utsur
«
1 "(He is) my son."
"^ I.e. Zadkiel. , Comp. the Hebrew name Zedekiah.
^ Also written Beli-taggil, "he trusts in Bel."
* Also written Qi'su.
" Also written Assur-bela-yukin.
" The line is drawn here by List IV.
' The line is drawn here by Lists U and HL Probably Tiglath-
pileser HI seized the crown in B.C. 745, but was not universally recognised
as king until B.C. 743.
8 " O Bel of Harran (Genesis xi. 31) protect the lord."
THE ASSYRIAN CANON
117
K.C.
722.
721.
720.
719.
718.
717.
716.
715-
714.
713-
712.
711.
710.
709.
708.
707.
706.
705-
704.
703-
702.
701.
700.
699.
Uras-A
Nebo-tarits
Assur-kakka (?)-danin
Sargon the younger the
king
Zira-ibni
Dhabu-sar-Assur
Dhabu-tsil-E-sarra
Taggil-ana-Bela
Istar-dur
Assur-bani
Sarru-emur-anni
Uras-ahk-pani
Samas-bela-utsur
Mannu-ki-Assur-Hh
Samas-yupakhkhir
Sa-Assur-dubbu
Mutaggil-Assur
Yupakhkhira-Belu ^
Nebo-dini-epus
Nukhsa ^
Nebo-Hh
Khananu
Metunu
Bel-nis-anni
B.C.
698.
697.
696.
695-
694.
693-
692.
691.
690.
689.
688.
687.
686.
685.
684.
683.
682.
681.
680.
679.
678.
677.
676.
675-
Sulum-sarri
Nebo-dura-utsur
Dhabu (?)-Bel
Nebo-bela-utsur
Ilu-itti-ya
Nadini-akhi
Zaza
Bel-emur-anni
Nebo-kin-akha
Gikhilu
Nadin-akhi
Sennacherib *
Bel-emur-anni
Assur-danin-anni
Mannu-zira-ile (?)
Mannu-ki-Rimmon
Nebo-sharezer ^
Nebo-akhi-esses.
Esar-haddon sat on the
throne.
Dananu
Istu-Rimmon-aninu
Nergal-sharezer
Abu-ramu®
Bamba
Nebo-akhe-iddina
1 The line is drawn here by List III,
^ The name of "Sennacherib the l<ing " is inserted here in List II. In
List IV the dividing-line is drawn after the name of Yupakhirra-Belu, and
is followed by the name of Sennacherib.
^ "He who belongs to the god of fertihty, ' ' who was the god of
Andakhu according to W. A. I,, v. 16, 38.
* Sin-akhi-erba "the Moon-god has increased the brethren." In List
III the name is written by error Assur-akhi-[erba] and a hne is drawn both
before and after it.
5 Nabu-sarra-utsur, " O Nebo protect the king!"
' "The father (Bel) is exalted": the name is identical with the
BibUcal Abram.
ii8
RECORDS OF THE PAST
B.C.
B.C.
674.
Sarru-nuri
Nebo-sar-akhi-su, pre-
673-
Atar-ilu ^
fect of Samaria
672.
Nebo-bil-utsur
Samas - danin - anni,
671.
Dhebita ^
prefect of Babylon
670.
Sallimmu-bela-la'ssip
Sin-sarra-utsur, scribe
669.
Samas-kasid-abi
of the land
668.
Mar-la'rme
Sin-sarra-utsur, pre-
667.
Gabbaru
fect of Khindana
666.
... a
Bulludhu
Rimmon-rim-ani
Lacuna.
Nebo - sarra - utsur,
scribe of the land
?663
? Bel-Nahid
Assur-mata-itsmad
?662
. Dhabu-sar-Sin
Musallim-Assur, pre-
?66i
. Arbaila*
fect of Alikhi
?66o
. Girzabuna
Mannu-ki-akhi, pre-
?6S9
. 'Silim-Assur ^
fect of Simyra
Nebo-bela-iddin
Sa-Nebo-su«
Nebo - danin - anni,
Laba'si
governor of Que
Milki-ramu
Assur-danin-sarri
Amyanu
Assur-rim-ani
Assur-natsir
Assur-gimil-turri
Assur-A
Yupaqa-ana-Arbail
Assur-dura-u tsur
Rubu-sarra-iqbi, the
'Sa(?)gabbu
tartan of Komagene
Bel-Kharran-sadua
Zamama-erba
Assur(?)-A7
Merodach-sarra-utsur,
governor of Que
Bel-sunu, prefect of
Nuru
Khindana
Bel-sap(?)-anni
' ■■ Atar is El." Atar or Athar, as Schrader has shown, was the name
of the goddess of the North Arabian tribe of Kedar, and enters into that of
Atar-samain or "Athar of heaven " mentioned by Assur-bani-pal.
2 " Born in the month of Tebet."
■' The date is taken from George Smith. * " The Arbeh'te."
" List I. ends here. The names which follow are derived from List III.
' Assigned to the year B.C. 656 by George Smith.
' List III ends here. The names which follow are derived by George
Smith from various dated documents.
THE ASSYRIAN CANON
119
Nebo-nadin-akhi
Sarru-nahid
Nebo-zaqap
Assur-garua-niri
Barku^-rim-ani
Daddi^
Sin-alik-pani
' " Rimmon have mercy on me," Barku or Barqu, "the lightning,"
the Hebrew Baraq, being a name of Rimmon.
" Daddi, whose name indicates his Syrian origin, was eponym in the
reign of Sin-sar-iskun, one of the last kings of Assyria.
THE ASSYRIAN CHRONICLE
B.C.
858. Shalmaneser king of Assyria ; (campaign) against [the
land of] . . .
857. Assur-bela-kain the tartan ;i . . .
856. Assur-bani-apla-utsur the Rab-BI-LUL ;^ . . .
855. Abu-ina-ekalli-lilbur the governor of the palace; . . .
854. Dan-Assur the tartan ; . . .
853. Samas-abfia the prefect of the city Na'sibna;^ . . .
852. Samas-bela-utsur of the city of Calah ; . . .
851. Bel-bani-pal-a the governor of the palace ; . . .
850. Khadl-lipusu of the city of ...;.. .
840. [Sallimmu-bela-ramur] of the river of 'Sukhina;
against the land of [Qu]e.
839. [Uras-kib'si-utsur] of the city of Ratsappa (Rezeph);
against the land of Ma(?) . . khi.
838. [Uras-A]of the river of 'Sukhina ; against the land of
Danabi.
837. [Qurdi-Assur] of the city of Sallat ; against the
country of Taeali (Tubal).
836. [Ner-sarri] of the country of [Kir]kuri ; against the
land of Melidi (Malatiyeh).
835. [Nergal-mudammiq] of Nineveh ; against the land
of Namri.
834. [Yakhalu] the seer; against the land of Que.
833. [Ulula] of the city of [KalJzi ; against the land of
Que.
832. [Sarru-pati-beli] . . . ; against the land of Que; the
great god went to the city of Diri.
1 yartawK, "commander-in-chief ;" see Isaiah xx. i, 2 Kings xviii. 17.
^ Perhaps " the chief of the cup-bearers. " ' Nisibis.
THE ASSYRIAN CHRONICLE
B.C.
831. [Nergal-A] of [NisibJis ; against the land of Ararat.
830. [Khuba] of the city of [CalJah ; against the land of
Unqi.
829. [Ilu-kin-akha] of [ArbaJkha ; against the land of
Ulluba.
828. [Shalmaneser the king]; against the land of the
MannA.
827. [Dan-Assur] . . . Insurrection.'
826. [Assur-bani-pal-a-utsur] . . . Insurrection.
825. [Yakhalu] . . . Insurrection.
824. [Bel-bani-pal-a] . . . Insurrection.
823. [Samas-Rimmon the king]. Insurrection.
822. [Yakhalu] . . . Insurrection.
817. [Assur-bani-apla-utsur] the Rab- . . . ; against the land
of TiLLE.
816. [Sarru-patl-beli of the city of Ni]sibis ; against the
land of Zarati.
815. [Bel-baladh, the tartan?]; against the city of Diri ;
the great god went to the city of DiRi.
814. [Musiknis of the land of] Kirruri ; against the land
of Akh'sana.
813. [Nergal-utsur of] Sallat (?) ; against the land of the
Kaldi.i
812. [Samas-kumua of] Arbakha ;^ against Babylon.
811. [Bel-qati-tsabat of the city of] Mazamua ; in the
country.^
810. [Rimmon-nirari king of] Assyria; against the land
of A.
809. [Nergal-A the] tartan ; against the city of Gozan.*
^ The Chaldseans, at this time a tribe in the marshes of Southern
Babylonia. ^ Arrapakhitis.
' That is to say, the troops stayed at home ; no mihtary expedition
took place.
^ On the river Khabour ; see 2 Kings xix. 12.
RECORDS OF THE PAST
B.C.
808. [Belu-dan, the ner of] the palace; against the land
of the Manna.i
807. [Tsil-beli, the Rab-]BI-LUL; against the land of
the MannA.
806. [Assur-taggil] the seer;^ against the land of Arpad.
805. [ . . . the . . .] ; against the city of Khazazi.
804. [Nergal-esses of the country of] Ratsappa;^ against
the city of Bahli.
803. Assur-nes-nisi of the city of Arbakha; against the
sea-coast. A pestilence.
802. Uras-A of the city on the banks of the Zukhina ;
against the city of Khupuskia.
801. Ner-Istar of the city of NisiBis ; against the country
of A.
800. Merodach-isip-anni of the city of Amedi*; against
the country of A.
799. Mutaggil-Merodach the Rab-shakeh ; ^ against the city
of LusiA.
798. Bel-tartsi-same of the city of Calah ; against the
country of Namri.
797. Assur-bela-utsur of the city of Kirruri ; against the
city of Mantsuate.
796. Merodach-saduni of the city of Sallat; against the
city of Deri.
795. Kin-abda of the city of Tuskhan ; against the city of
Deri.
794. Mannu-ki-Assur of the city of Gozan; against the
country of A.
' The Minni of the Old Testament, the Man^ of the Vannic inscriptions,
whose territory extended from the Kotur mountains, the eastern frontier
of the Icingdom of Ararat or Van, towards Lalce Urumiyeh. The name has
no connection with that of Van.
2 Abarakku, from the Accadian abrik : in Genesis xh. 43 Joseph is
called atrek, a word erroneously supposed to be of Egyptian origin. See
my Hibbert Lectures on Babylonian Religion, p. 183. where, however, I
have erroneously translated abrikku or abarakku "vizier." Joseph's cup
of divination is referred to in Genesis xliv. $•
' The Rezeph of Isaiah xxxvii. 12.
■* Amida, now Diarbekir.
' Rab-saki, "the chief of the princes," or Vizier.
THE ASSYRIAN CHRONICLE 123
B.C.
793. Musallim-Uras of the city of Tille; against the
country of A.
792. Bel-qais-ani of the city of Mekhinis ; against the land
of Khupuskia.
791. Ner-Samas of the city of I'sana ; against the land of
Ituha.
790. Uras-kin-akha of the city of Nineveh; against? the
land of A.
789. Rimmon-musammir of the city of Kalzi ; against the
land of A. The foundation of the temple of Nebo
in Nineveh [was laid].
788. Tsil-Istari of the city of ... ; against the land of
Ki-?-Ki. Nebo [entered] the (new) temple.
787. Nebo-sarra-utsur of the city of [against the
land of Khupuskia.] The great god entered the
city of Deri.
785. Merodach-sarra-utsur of the city of Kurban; against
the land of Khupuskia.
783. Uras-natsir of the city of Mazamua ; against the land
of Ituha.
782. Samu-lih of the city of Nisibis ; against the land of
Ituha.
781. Shalmaneser king of Assyria; against the land of
Ararat.
7 80. Samsi-ilu the tartan ; against the country of Ararat.
779. Merodach-rim-ani the Rab-BI-LUL ; against the land
of Ararat.
778. Bel-esir [the governor] of the palace ; against the land
of Ararat.
777. Nebo-isdi-ya-yukin the seer; against the country of
Ituha.
776. [Pan-Assuri-l'amur of] the (Assyrian) country ;1
against the land of Ararat.
775. [Nergal-esses of the country of] Ratsappa; against
the country of Erini.^
' Or perhaps "the prefect" (saladh).
2 "The country of the cedar-trees," i.e. Mount Amanus.
124 RECORDS OF THE PAST
B.C.
774. [Istar-duru of the city of] Nisibis; against the
countries of Ararat and Namri.
773. [Mannu-ki-Rimmon of] the (Assyrian) country;
against the city of Damascus.
772. [Assur-bela-utsur of the city of] Calah; against the
country of Khatarika.'^
771. Assur-dan the king of Assyria; against the city of
Gananati.
770. Samsi-ilu the tartan ; against the city of Marad.
769. Bel-A of the city of Arbakha; against the country of
Ituha.
768. Abla-ya of the city of Mazamua ; at home.
767. Qurdi-Assur of the city on the banks of the Zukhina;
against the country of Gannanati.
766. Musallim-Uras of the city of Tile; against the
country of A.
765. Uras-mukin-nisi of the country of Kirruri ; against
the country of Khatarika. A pestilence.
764. Tsidqi-ilu of the country of Tuskhan ; at home.
763. Isid-Raki's-rabe of the city of Gozan. Insurrection
in the city of Assur. In the month Sivan the sun
was ecHpsed.^
762. Dhabu-Bel of the city of Amedi ; insurrection in the
city of Assur.
761. Nebo-kin-akhi of the city of Nineveh; insurrection
in the city of Arbakha.
760. Laqipu of the city of Kalzi ; insurrection in the city
of Arbakha.
759. Pan-Assur-l'amur of the city of Arbela ; insurrection
in the city of Gozan. A pestilence.
758. Ana-beli-taggil of the city of I'sana ; against the city
of Gozan. Peace in the country (of Assyria).
757. Uras-iddin of the city of Kurban ; at home.
^ The Hadrach of Zech. ix. i.
^ The edipse was visible at Nineveh on the 15th of June.
THE ASSYRIAN CHRONICLE 125
B.C.
756. Bel-sadua of the city of Parnunna (?) ; at home.
755. Iqi'su of the city of Mekhinis; against the country ^
of Khatarika.
754. Uras-sezib-ani [of the city] of Rimu'si; against the
country 1 of Arpad. From the city of Assur a
return.
753. Assur-[nirari king of] Assyria; at home.
752. Samsi[-ilu the tar]tan ; at home.
751. Merodach-[sallim-anni the governor] of the palace ; at
home.
750. Bel-[dan the Rab-]BI-LUL; at home.
749. Samas-[mukin-duruk the] seer; against the land of
Namri.
748. [Rimmon-bela-yukin], an Assyrian^; against the
land of Namri.
747. [Sin-sallim-anni of the country] of Ratsappa; in the
country.
746. [Nergal-natsir of the] city of NisiBis ; insurrection in
the city of Calah.
745. [Nebo-bela-utsur of the city of Arbakha; on the
13th day of the month lyyar Tiglath - pileser
ascended the throne ; in the month Tisri he
marched to the river [Euphrates].
744. [Bel-dan] of the city of Calah ; against the land of
Namri.
743. The king of Assyria; in the city of Arpad. The
troops of the land of Ararat were slaughtered.
742. [Nebo-danin-anni] the tartan; against the city of
Arpad.
741. [Bel-Kharran-bela-utsur] the governor of the palace;
against the same city. After three years' (siege)
it was captured.
740. [Nebo-edhir-anni] the Rab-BI-LUL ; against the city
of Arpad.
1 "City" in another copy. ^ Or "the prefect."
126 liECORDS OF THE PAST
B.C.
739. [Sin-taggil] the seer; against the land of Ulluba. The
city of BiRTU was taken (?). ^
738. [Rimmon - bela - yukin] an Assyrian; 2 (the king)
captures the city of Kullani.^
737. [Bel-emur-anni] of Ratsappa ; against the land of A.
736. [Uras-A] of Nisibis ; against the foot of Mount Naal.
735. [Assur-sallim-anni] of the country of Arbakha;
against the land of Ararat.
Bel-dan] of Calah ; against the land of Pilista.*
Assur-danin-anni] of the city of Mazamua ; against
the land of Damascus.
732. [Nebo-bela-utsur] of the city of 'Sihme; against the
land of Damascus.
731. [Nergal-yuballidh] of the city on the banks of the
Zukhina ; against the city of Sapiya.
730. [Bel-ludari] of the city of Tile ; at home.
729. [Napkhar-ilu] of the land of Kirruri ; the king took
the hands of Bel.^
728. [Dur-Assur] of the city of Tuskhan ; the king took
the hands of Bel ; the city of Di(ri) . . .
734-
733-
727. [Bel-Kharran-bela-utsur] of [Go]zan ; against the city
of . . . [Shalmanjeser [ascended] the throne.
726. [Merodach-bela-utsur of Ame]di ; at [home].
725. [Makhde] of Nineveh; against . . .
724. [Assur-isip-anni of Kal]zi ; against . . .
723. [Shalmaneser king of] Assyria; against . . .
716. [Dhabu-tsiI-:6-sarra] . . . against the city of the
Manna.
715. [Taggil-ana-Bela] . . . prefects were appointed.
' I cannot explain the grammatical construction of tsahiat.
^ Or *' the prefect."
^ Probably the Calneh of Genesis x. 10 ; Isaiah x. 9.
* The Philistines.
" This ceremony was performed at Babylon, and implied that the king
was recognised as legitimate sovereign of Babylonia.
THE ASSYRIAN CHRONICLE 127
B.C.
714. [Istar-dur] ... the city of Muzazir of the (god)
Khaldia [was captured].
713. [Assur-bani] ... the great ... in the country of
Illipa ; the god . . . entered the new [temple].
712. [Sarru-emur-anni] . . . the city of Muzazir.
711. [Uras-alik-pani] . . . ; at home.
710. [Samas-bela-utsur] . . . ; against the city of Marqa'sa.
709. Mannu-ki-Assur-Hh . . . ; against the city of Bix-
ZiRi ; the king poured out a sacrificial libation in
the city of Kis . . . Sargon took the hands of Bel.
708. [Samas-yupakhkhir of Kirru]ri; the city of Kumukh
was conquered ; a prefect was appointed (over it).
707. Sa-Assur-dubbu the prefect of Tuskhan; the king
made a pilgrimage to Babylon. [Its] temples and
[palaces] he restored. On the 2 2d day of the month
Tisri the gods of the city of Dur-yakinI were
brought forth.
706. Mutaggil - Assur the prefect of Gozan ; the king
destroyed the city of Dur-yakin the 6th day of the
month lyyar. To their temples [the gods] returned.
705. Yupakhkhir-Bel the prefect of Amedi . . . Mukh(?)-
kaespai the Kulummite in the country of Karalla
... A soldier murdered the king of Assyria. . ., .
On the r2th day of the month Ab Sennacherib
[ascended the throne].
704. Nebo-dini-epus the governor of Nineveh . . . the
cities of Larak and 'Sarabanu [were captured ?].
A palace was built in the city of Kalzi. . . .
' According to the text published in W. A. I. ii. 6g, Dur-Sargon (now
Khorsabad). The text published by Dr. Bezold, however [Proceedings of
the Society of Biilical ArchiEology, xi. ♦), gives Dur-yakin, the ancestral li bJy.
capital of Merodach-baladan in the soutTiern marshes of Babylonia.
THE STANDARD INSCRIPTION OF
ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL
By the Editor
This long inscription of Assur-natsir-pal, inscribed
in various forms across the bas-reliefs of his palace,
ranks next in geographical importance to the annals
of Tiglath-Pileser I. Assur-natsir-pal reigned from
B.C. 883 to B.C. 858, more than 200 years after his
illustrious predecessor. But this interval of 200 years
was almost a blank in the history of Assyria. It
witnessed the rise of no great king or conqueror ;
indeed it would seem that the feeble successors of
Tiglath-Pileser lost territory rather than gained it.
With Assur-natsir-pal, however, a new era commenced.
Once more the armies of Nineveh went forth to
conquer, and once more it was towards the north and
the west that their marches were usually directed.
The Armenian kingdoms on the north, Carchemish
and Syria to the west, were the main objects of attack.
Tiglath-Pileser had been unable to penetrate be-
yond the Hittite fortress of Carchemish, and force the
fords of the Euphrates v/hich it protected. If he
made his way further to the west it was along the
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 129
northern range of mountains which led him into
Kilikia or to the fertile plain of Malatiyeh. But
Assur-natsir-pal was attended with better fortune.
The merchant princes of Carchemish had in his day
lost their ancient prowess and military spirit, and they
were glad to buy off the threatened attack of the
Assyrians with a rich bribe. Assur-natsir-pal left
Carchemish in his rear and pressed onward towards
Phoenicia and the Mediterranean coast. In the time
of his son and successor Shalmaneser II, Assyria
has already entered within the horizon of the western
nations, and has come into contact, not only with
the kings of Damascus, but with the kings of Israel
as well.
The annals of Assur-natsir-pal present us with an
invaluable picture of Western Asia in the ninth
century before our era, before Assyrian conquest had
as yet changed the political map of the country. It
is interesting to compare it with the picture presented
by the annals of Tiglath-Pileser two centuries earlier.
It is chiefly in the Armenian highlands that a change
has taken place, or, it may be, is in process of taking
place. The land of Nahri or " the rivers " of Tiglath-
Pileser has shifted its position and has passed from
the districts at the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates
to the southern shores of Lake Van.^ The rise of the
kingdom of Ararat or Van, which was destined to
play a considerable part in the future history of
Western Asia, was, it would appear, the immediate
' See the Records of the Past, new series, vol. i. p. 106, note 7.
VOL. II K
130 RECORDS OF THE PAST
consequence of the campaigns of Assur-natsir-pal in
the north. The cuneiform inscriptions of Armenia
begin with Sari-duris I, the antagonist of Shalmaneser
II, the son and successor of Assur-natsir-pal, and are
not only written in the syllabary of Nineveh, but are
modelled on the inscriptions of the Assyrian king.
As the city of Dhuspas or Van was founded by Sari-
duris, while his father Lutipri is never given the title
of king, it is probable that he was the founder of a
new dynasty as well as of a new kingdom. At all
events Arrame, who appears in the annals of Shal-
maneser as the predecessor of Sari-duris, had his
capital at Arzaskun, to the west of Lake Van and at
a long distance from what was afterwards the central
point of the kingdom of Ararat. The wars of Assur-
natsir-pal and Shalmaneser not only introduced
Assyrian civilisation into the north, but also resulted
in the union of a number of small principalities into
a single monarchy, which, under the varying names
of Ararat and Armenia, long continued to fill an
important place in Asiatic history.
On the whole, however, when the veil which lies
for two centuries over the map of Western Asia is
lifted, we see that few changes have taken place in it.
On the east the Kurdish mountains are still held by
wild and independent tribes, who form a barrier
between the inhabitants of the valley of the Tigris
and the Aryan popialation of Media. South of them
comes the ancient and cultured kingdom of Elam,
stretching from its capital of Susa to the shores of
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 131
the Persian Gulf. The valley of the Euphrates is
occupied by the Babylonian monarchy, whose history
and civilisation mount back into the night of time,
and whose armies had penetrated to the shores of the
Mediterranean, and even to the distant island of
Cyprus, ages before the very name of Assyria had been
known. The western bank of the Euphrates is the
home of the Bedouin 'Sukhi or Shuhites, who extend
from the vicinity of Carchemish to the frontiers of
Babylonia ; and the intervening district of Mesopotamia
is filled with flourishing cities, each governed by a
prince who claims jurisdiction over a small tract of
surrounding country. They all belong to the Semitic
family, and to the north press hard upon the Hittites,
who are already in full retreat towards their old
homes in the Taurus mountains. Carchemish, how-
ever, now Jerablus, with its command of the caravan
trade from east to west, is still in their hands.
Westward of them are the Patinians, a tribe of
Hittite origin, whose territory stretches from Khazaz
(now Azaz), near Aleppo, across the Afrin to Mount
Amanus, with its forests of cedars, and to the shores
of the Gulf of Antioch. But south of the Patinians
we are again among the Semites. The sea coast is
held by the wealthy trading cities of the Phoenicians,
foremost among them being Arvad and Gebal, Sidon
and Tyre ; while Syria proper is divided into two
kingdoms, that of Hamath, which has ceased to be
Hittite, and that of Damascus. Damascus had risen
upon the ruins of David's empire, which for a brief
132 RECORDS OF THE PAST
space had extended from the Gulf of Aqabah to the
banks of the Euphrates. With Damascus, Samaria
was brought into close relation, sometimes friendly,
but more usually hostile. Its first mention on the
Assyrian monuments, however, is in connection with
the battle of Qarqar in B.C. 853, when "Ahab of
Israel " sent a contingent to the help of Hadadezer
or Ben-hadad against his Assyrian assailants.
The wars of Assur-natsir-pal, like most of those of
the first Assyrian empire, did not lead to permanent
conquest or annexation. They were little more than
raids, carried on partly for the sake of plunder, partly
in order to exalt the glory and power of the great
god Assur, partly to open a road to the west for the
merchants of Nineveh. It is possible also that the
wars against the hardy mountaineers of Kurdistan or
Armenia were intended to prevent the latter from
descending into the fields of Assyria and disturbing
their more peaceful neighbours. It was not until the
rise of the second Assyrian empire, until the age
of Tiglath-Pileser III, of Sargon and of Sennacherib,
that Assyrian conquest meant absorption into a single
great organised power.
Assur-natsir-pal, whose name signifies "Assur has
defended the son," was the son and successor of
Tiglath-Uras II, and was himself succeeded by his
son Shalmaneser after a reign of twenty-five years.
His "Standard Inscription" proved of high value in
the early days of cuneiform decipherment, on account
of the numerous variants presented by the different
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 133
copies of it which we possess. It has been partly
published in Layard's Inscriptions in the Cuneiform
Character, pll. i-ii, and more fully and accurately in
the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. i.
pll. 17-26.
The translation of it given in the first series of
Records of the Past (vol. iii. pp. 37-80) belongs to the
earlier days of Assyrian study, and it has therefore
become necessary to replace it by one more accurate
and trustworthy. Not only is it now possible to
identify the chief localities mentioned in the text, but
the progress of Assyrian philology has also made it
possible to translate the text with a precision which
fifteen years ago was unattainable. Like most of the
historical inscriptions, it now oiifers but few words the
rendering of which is doubtful. And its geographical
importance and historical interest alike make it
desirable that the student who is not an Assyriologist
should possess the text in a trustworthy form. A
translation of the introductory lines has been published
by Lhotzky, Die Annalen AssurnazirpaV s (Munich,
1884), and the whole inscription has been translated
by Dr. Peiser in Schrader's Keilinschriftliche Biblio-
thek (1889), vol. i. pp. 51-129.
THE ANNALS OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL
COLUMN I
1. To Uras, the strong, the almighty, the supreme, the
firstborn of the gods, the lusty warrior, the unique
one, whose onset in battle is unrivalled, the
2. eldest son, the crusher of opposition, the firstborn of
Ea, the powerful warrior of the angels {i^gigi), the
counsellor of the gods, the offspring of the temple
of the earth, 1 the binder of the bonds
3. of heaven and earth, the opener of fountains, who
treads down the widespreading earth, the god with-
out whom the laws of heaven and earth are unmade,
4. the strong champion (?) who changes not the command
of his mouth, the firstborn of the zones, the giver
of the sceptre and law to all cities, the forceful
5. minister, the utterance of whose lips alters not, in
power far-reaching, the augur of the gods, the ex-
alted one, the meridian Sun-god, the lord of lords,
who the extremities of heaven
6. (and) earth superintends with his hand, the king of
battle, the illustrious one who overcomes opposition,
the sovereign, the unique one, the lord of fountains
and seas,
' E-kur, opposed to E-sarra, the temple of the firmament. It repre-
sented the earth and the lower world, and so became synonymous with
Arahi or Hades. Temples were built after the supposed likeness of this
"temple of the earth," and the name consequently came to signify a
"temple" in general. Uras was the messenger of Mul-hl "the lord of
the ghost-world," worshipped at Nipur or Niffer, and identified by the
Semites with their supreme Bel. His connection with the ghost-world or
Hades explains why Uras should be called " the offspring of the temple of
the earth."
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 135
7. the strong, the unsparing, whose onset is the deluge
that sweeps away the land of the enemy, the slayer
of the wicked, the lusty god whose counsel is un-
changing,
8. the light of heaven (and) earth, the illuminator of the
recesses of the deep, the destroyer of the evil, the
subduer of the disobedient, the uprooter of the
hostile, whose name in the assembly of the gods
9. no god has changed, the giver of life, the god of mercy
to whom prayer is good, who dwells in Calah,^ the
great lord, my lord ; [I] Assur-natsir-pal the power-
ful king,
10. the king of hosts, the king unrivalled, the king of all
the four regions (of the world), the Sun-god of
multitudes of men, the favourite of Bel ^ and Uras,
the beloved of Anu
1 1. and Dagon,^ the hero of the great gods who bows him-
self (in prayer), the beloved of thy heart, the prince,
the favourite of Bel whose high-priesthood
12. has seemed good to thy great divinity so that thou hast
established his reign, the warrior hero who has
marched in the service of Assor his lord, and
among the princes
13. of the four regions (of the world) has no rival, the
shepherd of fair shows who fears not opposition, the
unique one,* the mighty, who has not
14. an opponent, the king who subdues the unsubmissive,
who has overcome all the multitudes of men, the
powerful hero, who treads
15. upon the neck of his enemies, who tramples upon all
that is hostile, who breaks in pieces the squadrons
' Now represented by the mounds of Nimrftd at the junction of the
Upper or Great Zab and the Tigris.
^ This is Bel of Nipur, the Accadian Mul-lil, not the younger Bel-
Merodach of Babylon.
* The Assyrian Dagon was a word of Accadian origin meaning ' ' ex-
alted." He was usually associated with Anu the sky-god, and the worship
of both was carried as far west as Canaan. Anat, the wife of Anu, gave
her name to the Canaanite town of Beth-Anath (Josh. xix. 38).
■* EdA, which of course does not mean " a flood " here.
136 RECORDS OF THE PAST
of the mighty, who in reliance on the great gods,
his lords,
1 6. has marched, and whose hand has conqusred all lands,
has overcome the mountains to their furthest bounds,
and has received their tribute, who has taken
17. hostages, who has established empire over all lands.
At that time AssuR the lord, the proclaimer of my
name, the enlarger of my kingdom,
1 8. entrusted his weapon that spares not to the hands of
my lordship, (even to me) Assur-natsir-pal the ex-
alted prince, the adorer of the great
19. gods, the mighty monster,^ the conqueror of cities and
mountains to their furthest bounds, the king of
lords, the consumer of the violent, who is crowned
with
20. terror, who fears not opposition, the valiant one, the
supreme judge who spares not, who overthrows
resistance, the king of all princes,
21. the lord of lords, the shepherd-prince, the king of kings,
the exalted prophet, named by Uras the warrior-
god (and) hero of the great gods, the avenger of his
fathers,
22. the king who has marched with justice in reliance
on AssuR and Samas,^ the gods his helpers, and
powerful countries and princes his foemen
23. he has cast down like a reed (and) has subjugated all
their lands under his feet, the supplier of the free-
will offerings for the great
24. gods, the established prince, who is provident to direct
the laws of the temples of his country, the work of
whose hands and
25. the gift of whose sacrifices the great gods of heaven and
earth desire and have established his high -priest-
hood in the temples for ever ;
26. their strong weapons have they given for the spoil of
my lordship ; the terror of his weapon, the glory of
his lordship, over the kings
^ Usumgal, a fabulous beast which was supposed to devour the corpses
of the dead. Comp. Isaiah xiii. 21, 22 ; xxxiv. 14.
2 The Sun-god.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NA TSIR-PAL 137
2 7. of the four regions (of the world) have they made strong
for him ; the enemies of AssuR to their furthest
bounds above and below he has combated, and
tribute and gifts
28. he has laid upon them ; (he), the conqueror of the foes
of AssuR, the powerful king, the king of Assyria,
the son of Tiglath-Uras, the high priest of AssuR,
who upon all his foemen
29. has laid the yoke, has set up the bodies of his adver-
saries upon stakes ; the grandson of Rimmon-nirari
the high-priest of the great gods,
30. who brought about the overthrow of those who would
not obey him, and overcame the world ; the great-
grandson of Assur-dan, who
31. founded fortresses (and) estabhshed shrines -.^ in those
days from the mouth of AssuR (and) the great gods
kingdom, sovereignty (and) majesty issued forth.
32. I am king, I am sovereign, I am exalted, I am strong,
I am glorious, I am lusty, I am the firstborn, I am
the champion, I am the warrior,
33. I am a lion, I am a hero ; Assur-natsir-pal, the power-
ful king, the king of Assyria, named of the Moon
God, the favourite of Anu, the beloved of Rimmon
mightiest among the gods,
34. (am) I ; a weapon that spares not, which brings
slaughter to the land of his enemies, (am) I ; a
king valiant in battle, the destroyer of cities and
mountains,
35. the leader of the conflict, the king of the four regions
(of the world), who lays the yoke upon his foes,
who enslaves (?) all his enemies, the king of all the
zones of all princes,
36. every one of them, the king who subjugates the un-
submissive to him, who has overcome all the multi-
tudes of men. This is the destiny which from the
mouth of the great gods
' Isriti or esrlie, of the same origin as the Hebrew ashlrdh, the sym-
bol of the goddess of fertihty, mistranslated "grove" in the authorised
version of the Old Testament.
138 RECORDS OF THE PAST
37. has issued forth for me, and they have established (it)
firmly as my destiny. According to the desire of
my heart and the stretching forth of my hand Istar,i
the lady who loves
38. my high-priesthood, looked with favour upon me and
set her heart to make combat and battle, and in
those days Assur-natsir-pal, the exalted prince, the
worshipper of the great gods,
39. whom Bel has caused to obtain the desire of his heart
so that his hand conquered the lands of all princes
who submitted not unto him, the conqueror
40. of his foes who in difficult places has broken through the
squadrons of the mighty — at that time AssuR my
great lord, the proclaimer of my name,
41. the enlarger of my kingdom over the kings of the four
regions (of the world), has mightily magnified my
name, the weapon that spares not unto the hands of
my lordship
42. he has given to hold. To effect the submission and
homage of countries and mighty mountains power-
fully has he urged me. In reliance on Assur my
lord
43. I traversed impassable paths (and) trackless mountains
with the forces of my armies : a rival unto me
existed not. At the beginning of my reign,
44. in my first year, when the Sun-god the judge of the
zones (of the world) had thrown his kindly shadow
over me, on the throne of royalty mightily I had
sat, (and) the sceptre
45. that shepherds mankind he had caused my hand to
hold, I collected my chariots (and) armies. Im-
passable roads (and) trackless mountains, which
for the passage
46. of chariots and armies were not suited, I traversed ;
against the land of Nimme ^ I marched : LiBi *
1 The Ashtoreth of the Old Testament.
^ This must be a different Nimme from the Armenian one, in the neigh-
bourhood of the modern Mush, mentioned by Tiglath-Pileser I. See vol.
i. p. 106, note I.
* The name can also be read, but with less probability, Gubbfi.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 139
their strong city (and the cities of) Surra,
Apuqu,
47. Arura (and) Arub£;, which are in sight of the moun-
tains of Urini, Aruni (and) Etini/ strong cities, I
captured ; their fighting-men
48. in numbers I slew ; their spoil, their goods (and) their
oxen I carried away. (Their) soldiers sought
the inaccessible mountain. The inaccessible
mountain they reached. With (my) forces after
them
49. I marched.^ The summit of the mountain was like
the point of an iron blade, and the flying bird
of heaven had not swooped upon it. Like a
nest
50. oi hawks (?) in the midst of the mountain they made
their stronghold. Into the midst of them where
none among the kings my fathers had penetrated,
in three days
51. the hero beheld the mountain ; against it did his heart
offer opposition : he ascended the mountain on his
feet ; he overthrew (and) destroyed their nest ; their
forces
52. he shattered; 200 of their warriors he slew with
weapons. Their spoil, multitudinous as a flock of
sheep, I carried away.
53. With their blood I dyed the mountain like wool (?).
The ravine (and) torrent of the mountain devoured^
what was left of them. Their cities
54. I overthrew, dug up (and) burned with fire. From
the country of Nimme I departed ; into the country
of KiRRURi* I descended, the tribute of the countries
of KiRRURI
55. 'Sime'si,^ (and) 'Simera, the city of Ulmania, (and)
1 The Mount Etini in eastern Kurdistan mentioned in col. ii. line 62.
- Lallik for lu allik.
' Akul ior yakul after sade.
* Kirruri (or Gurruri) was the district under Mount Rowandiz in
Kurdistan, eastward of Assyria, from which a pass led directly into the
city of Arbela.
* 'Sime'si lay immediately to the north-east of the pass of Holwan.
14° RECORDS OF THE PAST
the countries of Adaus/ of the Murgians, (and) of
the Murma'sians,^ horses, mules,^
56. oxen, sheep, wine, (and) a bowl of copper, as their
tribute I received. I estabhshed a governor over
them. When in Kirruri
57. I was slaying, the glory of AssuR my lord overwhelmed
the people of Gozan and Khupuska : * horses, silver,
58. gold, lead, copper (and) a bowl of copper as their
tribute they brought before me. From Kirruri I
departed,
59. into the lowlands of the city of Khulun, into the
country of Qurkhi ^ of Betani I descended. The
cities of Khatu,^ Khataru, Nistun, Irbidi,
60. Mitqia, Arzania,' Tela,8 (and) Khalua, the cities
of Qurkhi which in sight of the mountains of U'su,
Arua
61. (and) Arardhi,^ mighty mountains, are situated, I
captured ; their soldiers in multitudes I slew ; their
spoil (and) their goods I carried away.
62. [Their] soldiers sought the peak (of the mountain);
they reached the summit which (is) at the entrance
to the city of Nistun, which hangs from the sky
like a cloud. Into the midst of them, where none
' Adaus is mentioned by Tiglath-Pileser I ; see vol. i. p. 102.
'^ Or Kharga'sians.
' Tlie word is expressed by ideographs which signify "animals with
large feet. " It is therefore probable that a species of horse, like our cart-
horse, is meant rather than mules.
■* Gozan lay to the south of the kingdom of Ararat between the northern
bank of the Tigris and Lake Van. Whether the country of Gozan had
anything to do with the city of Gozan which gave its name to Gauzanitis
in classical times is doubtful. The city seems to be meant by the Gozan
of Scripture (2 Kings xix. 12) which lay on the river Khabour. Khupuska
lay to the north of Assyria and the Upper Zab.
" Qurkhi of Betani or Armenia extended eastward of Diarbekir along
the northern bank of the Tigris. See vol. i. p, 96, note 3. Qurkhi formed
the eastern boundary of the Hittite tribes.
* The name"of this city seems to signify " Hittite."
' A variant text gives Artsuain. It maybe the Artsuinis of the Vannic
inscriptions, the modern Sirka near Van.
* Perhaps the modern Tilleh, at the junction of the Sert river and the
Tigris.
" This seems to be the earliest form of the name of Urardhu, the Bib-
lical Ararat.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 141
among the kings my fathers had penetrated, my
warriors flew upon them Hke birds :
64. 260 of their fighting-men I slew with weapons; their
heads I cut off (and) built into a pyramid. The
rest of them like a bird
65. made (their) nest in the rocks of the mountain. Their
spoil (and) their goods from the midst of the moun-
tain I brought down. The cities which in the midst
66. of the mighty ranges were situated I overthrew, I dug
up, I burned with fire. All the soldiers who had
fled from the face of my weapons descended ; my
feet
67. they embraced. Tribute, gifts, and a satrap I imposed
upon them. Bubu the son of Buba,^ the son of
the chief of the city of Nistun,
68. I flayed in the city of Arbela (and) clothed the wall
of the fortress with his skin. At that time I made
an image of my person ; the glorious deeds of my
abundant power
69. I inscribed upon (it). I erected (it) in the mountains
of the land of Eqi in the city of Assur-natsir-pal
at the head of the river-source.^ In the year when
I was eponym ^ on the 24th day of the month Ab,*
70. by the command of AssuR (and) Istar the great gods
ray lords I departed from the city of Nineveh ;
against the cities which at the foot of the mountains
of NiBUR and Pazate, mighty mountains,
71. are situated I marched; I conquered the cities of
Atkun, Uskhu, Pilazi (and) 20 (other) cities de-
pendent on them. Their numerous fighting-men I
slew ;
72. their spoil (and) their goods I carried away ; the cities
I burned with fire. All the soldiers who had fled
from the face of my weapons descended
73. (and) embraced my feet. I imposed tribute upon
them. I departed from the cities which (are) at
^ A variant text gives Babua.
^ The Tigris seems to be referred to rather than the Euphrates.
" B.C. 883. * July.
i.p RECORDS OF THE PAST
the foot of the mountains of Nibur (and) Pazate.
The river Tigris I crossed ;
74. to the land of Kummukh ^ I approached. I received
the tribute of the countries of Kummukh (and)
MusKi,^ plates of copper, oxen, sheep (and) wine.
While in the land of Kummukh
75. I was staying, they brought me back news that the
'SuRU of Bit-Khalupe ^ had revolted (and) had
murdered their governor Khamata.*
76. Akhi-yababaa plebeian^ whom they had brought from
Bit-Adini,^ they raised to the sovereignty over
them. With the help of Assur (and) Rimmon,
7 7. the great gods, the enlargers of my sovereignty, I as-
sembled (my) chariots (and) armies, I occupied the
banks of the Khabur.'' On my march the tribute
78. abundant of Sallimmanu-khaman-ilani of the city of
Sadikan,^ the son of Ilu-Rimmon " of the city of
Qatna,!" silver, gold,
79. lead, plates of copper, variegated cloths, (and) linen
vestments I received. To the city of 'Suri of Bit-
Khalupe I approached ;
80. the fear of the glory of Assur my lord overwhelmed
' The Komag^ng of classical geography ; see vol. i. p. 95, note i.
- The Moskhi of classical geography, the Meshcch of the Old Testa-
ment ; see vol. i. p. 94, note 3.
2 The modern Helebi on the western bank of the Euphrates, midway
between the mouths of the Balikh and the Khabour. The classical Sura
(now Surieh), a. little above the mouth of the Balikh, preserved the name
of the 'Suru.
^ The name means " the Hamathite, "
' Literally "the son of nobody."
" Bit-Adin was on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, not far from its
junction with the Balikh. It may be the Eden of Ezek. xxvii. 23 and 2
Kings xix. 12.
' The modern Khabour, which joins the Euphrates at the siteofCir-
cesium.
*• NowArban, on the eastern bank of the Khabour, where Sir A. H.
Layard discovered the remains of a palace. Dr. Peiser may be right in
reading the name Gar-dikan.
" Or Ilu-Dadu, " Hadad is god." Dadu or Hadad was the Syrian
name of the deity which the Assyrians identified with their Rimmon. The
compound Hadad-Rimmon is found in Zech. xii. ii,
"* We may compare the name of Yoktan in Gen. x. 25. In W. A. I. ii.
60, 30, mention is made of ' ' Qatnu the god of the city of Qatan."
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 143
them ; the nobles (and) the elders of the city, to
save their lives, came forth to meet me ;
81. they took my feet, saying. Thou wiliest (it and) it is
death, thou wiliest (it and) it is life, the will of thy
heart will we perform. Akhi-yababa, the son of a
plebeian
82. whom they had brought from Bit-Adini I seized by
the hand. In the prowess of my heart and the
violence of my weapons I attacked the city. All
the soldiers who had rebelled
83. they had seized (and) delivered up. I brought my
nobles into its palace (and) its temples : its silver,
its gold, its goods, its spoil, copper,
84. iron, lead, plates of copper, sacrificial knives of copper,
sacrificial bowls of copper, (other) objects of copper
in abundance, alabaster, a cup
85. with handles, the amazons^ of its palaces, its daughters,
the spoil of the soldiers who had rebelled along with
their goods, its gods along with their goods,
86. precious stones from the mountain, its chariot(s), (its)
yokes of horses bound to the yoke, the trappings of
the horses, the accoutrements of the soldiers,
87. variegated cloths, linen vestments, a beautiful altar ot
cedar-wood, sweet-smelling herbs, a shrine of cedar,
88. red purple (and) blue purple garments,^ its wagons, its
oxen, (and) its sheep, its exceeding spoil, which like
the stars of heaven could not be numbered,
89. I carried away. Aziel I appointed over them as my
vicegerent. I erected a pyramid at the approach
to its chief gate. The nobles, as many as
90. had revolted, I flayed ; with their skins I covered the
pyramid. Some (of these) I immured in the midst
of the pyramid ; others above
91. the pyramid I impaled on stakes; others round about
the pyramid I planted on stakes ; many at the exit
from my own country
- Literally "female soldiers."
^ Argamanu takiltu, the Hebrew a7'gamdn and thekclcth^ Exod. xxv.
26, xxvi. 4.
144 RECORDS OF THE PAST
92. I flayed; with their skins I clad the fortress -walls.
The limbs of the chief officers who (were) the
chief officers of the kings who had rebelled I cut
off.
93. I brought Akhi-yababa to Nineveh (and) flayed him ;
with his skin I clad the fortress-wall of Nineveh.
Power and might
94. I laid upon the land of Laqe.^ While I was staying
in the city of 'SuRi the tribute of the kings of the
land of Laqe every one of them,
95. silver, gold, lead, copper, a plate of copper, oxen,
sheep, variegated cloths (and) linen vestments, as
tribute
96. and gifts I prescribed (and) imposed upon them. At
that time the tribute of Khayanu of the city of
Khindan,^ silver,
97. gold, lead, copper, umu stone, alabaster (?), red purple
garments, (and) wild asse& (?) as his tribute I
received. At that time an image
98. of my majesty grandly I made ; (the story of my)
power and exaltation I inscribed upon (it) ; in the
midst of his palace I set (it) up. I erected my
stelae ;
99. (the story of) the exaltation of my strength I inscribed
upon (them) ; at the gate of his (city) I placed
(them). In the same year during my eponymy,^
by the command of AssuR my lord and Uras who
loves my priesthood,
100. whereas in the time of the kings my fathers no one ot
the country of the Shuhites^ had gone to the
land of Assyria, Ilu-epus^ the Shuhite, to save
his life, together with his brothers (and)
' The land of Laqe adjoined the territory of the 'Suru on the north.
2 Khindan may be the Giddan of classical geography, on the eastern
bank of the Euphrates.
'^ Literally " in the eponymy of the year of my name."
■• ."Assyrian 'Sukhi. Their territory extended along the western bank of
the Euphrates, from the mouth of the Balikh to the mouth of the Khabour.
It was to the Shuhites that Bildad (Bel-Dadu), the friend of Job, belonged
(Job ii. ii). " Or, as it may also be read, llu-bani.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 145
1 01. his sons brought silver (and) gold as tribute to
Nineveh to my presence. In the course of the
eponymy ^ I was staying in the city of Nineveh
when news
102. was brought that the Assyrian colonists whom
Shalmaneser 2 king of Assyria, a prince who went
before me,
103. had planted in the city of Khalzi-dibkha,^ had revolted
(with) Khula the lord of their city (and) were on
the march to capture my royal city of Damda-
MU'SA.
104. By the command of Assur, Samas, and Rimmon, the
gods my ministers I assembled my chariots (and)
armies. At the head of the sources of the river
'Supnat,* where the image(s)
105. of Tiglath-Pileser and Tiglath-Uras ^ king(s) of
Assyria my fathers had been erected, I executed
an image of my royal self (and) erected (it) by the
side of theirs.
106. At that time the tribute of the country of Izala,
oxen, sheep (and) wine I received. I crossed the
mountain of Kasyari.^ To the city of Kinabu,
107. the fortified city of Khula, I approached. With the
strength of my army (and with) violent battle I
attacked the city. I captured (it) Six hundred
of their fighting men
108. I slew with the sword. Three thousand of their
captives I burned with fire. I left not one alive
among them to become a hostage. Khula
109. the lord of their city I captured alive with (my) hand.
I built their bodies into pyramids. Their young
men (and) their maidens I burned to ashes.
1 1 o. Khula the lord of their city I flayed. With his skin
I clad the fortress-wall of the city of Damdamu'sa.
^ Limesaiw/na,
- Shalmaneser I, the builder of Calah, B.C. 1300.
3 Or Khalzi-lukha.
* The Sebbeneh Su, which falls into the Tigris to the north of Diarbekir.
* Tiglath-Pileser I, B.C. 1130, and Tiglath-Uras, B.C. 889-883, are
referred to. ^ The Mount Masius of classical geography.
VOL. II L
146 RECORDS OF THE PAST
The city I threw down, dug up (and) burned with
fire.
111. I captured the city of Mariru which (was) dependent
on them. Fifty of their warriors I slew with
weapons; 200 of their captives I burned with
fire; 332
112. soldiers of the country of Nirbi ^ I slew in combat in
the field. I brought away their spoil, their oxen
(and) their sheep. The (people of the) country of
NiRBU which (lies) at the foot of Mount Ukhira
113. encouraged one another. Against the city of Tela,^
their stronghold, I descended. From the city of
KiNABU I departed. To the city of Tela 1
approached.
114. The city was very strong. Three fortress -walls
surrounded (it). The inhabitants trusted to their
strong walls and their numerous army, and had
not descended (into the field).
115. They did not embrace my feet. With combat and
slaughter I attacked the city (and) captured (it) :
3000 of their fighting men I slew with the sword.
Their spoil,
1 1 6. their goods, their oxen (and) their sheep I carried
away. Their numerous captives I burned with
fire. I captured many of the soldiers alive with
the hand.
1 1 7. I cut off the hands (and) feet of some ; I cut off the
noses, the ears (and) the fingers of others; the
eyes of the numerous soldiers I put out.
1. 18. I built up a pyramid of the living (and) a pyramid of
heads. In the middle (of them) I suspended
their heads on vine-stems in the neighbourhood of
their city. Their young men
COLUMN II
I. (and) their maidens I burned as a holocaust. The
' The "lowlands" in the neighbourhood of Diarbekir. The "land of
the Hittites " lay immediately to the east of them.
2 Possibly the same as the Tela of line 60.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 147
city I overthrew, dug up (and) burned with fire. I
annihilated Jt. The cities of the land of Nirbi
2. (and) their strong fortress-walls I overthrew, dug up
(and) burned with fire. At that time from the
country of Nirbi I departed. To the city of
TusKHA 1
3. I approached. The city of Tuskha I restored afresh.
Its old wall I changed. Its site I purified. Its
strength I took (in hand). A new wall
4. from its foundations to its coping I built up, completed
(and) strengthened. I erected a palace for the seat
of my majesty at its gates.^
5. I built this palace up from its foundations to its coping.
I made an image of my person of white limestone.
The might
6. of my power, the record and history of my conquests
which I achieved in the countries of Nairi ^ I
inscribed upon (it). In the city of Tuskha
7. I set (it) up. I inscribed a tablet of stone. In its
wall I placed (it). Those colonists from Assyria,
who in consequence of a famine to other lands
8. (even) to the land of Rure had ascended I brought
back. In the city of Tuskha I planted them.
This city for myself
g. I took. Grain and straw from the land of Nirbi I
heaped up within (it). The remaining inhabitants
of the land of Nirbi who had fled from the face of
my weapons
10. descended (and) took my feet. Their cities (and)
their houses (which were) suitable I caused them to
occupy. As tribute and gifts, horses,
11. mules, oxen, sheep, wine, (and) plates of copper, in
addition to what I formerly prescribed I imposed
upon them. Their sons as hostages
1 Also called Tuskhan. It lay between Mount Masius and the Tigris,
south of Diarbekir.
2 Or according to a variant text : " I founded a palace for the seat of my
majesty in the midst (of it) ; I made doors ; at its gates I erected (them)."
' The district between Lake Van and the northern frontier of Assyria ;
see vol. i. p. 106, u. 7.
148 JiECOJiDS OF THE PAST
1 2. I took. While I was staying in the city of Tuskha the
tribute of Ammi-bahla,^ the son of Zamani, of Ilu-
Khite ^ of the land of Rure,
1 3. of Labdhuri the son of Dhubu'si of the land of Nirdun,
and the tribute of the country of Urume of
BiTANi ^ (and) of the kings of the land of Nairi,
14. chariots, horses, mules, silver, gold, plate(s) of copper,
oxen, sheep (and) wine, as their tribute I received.
15. I established a lord of the marches over the lands of
Nairi. On my return from the lands of Nairi,
the land of Nirbu which (is) within
16. the mountain of Kasyari revolted. Their nine cities
they left. To the city of Ispilipria ^ their strong-
hold and the inaccessible mountain
17. they trusted, and the summits of the mountain I
attacked (and) seized. In the midst of the mighty
mountain I slew their warriors. With their blood
like wool (?) the mountain
18. I dyed. What was left of them was swallowed up by
the ravines and torrents of the mountain. Their
spoil (and) their goods I carried away. The heads
of their fighting-men
1 9. I cut off. I built up a column (of them) at the top of
their city. Their young men (and) their maidens
I burned as a holocaust. Into the lowlands of the
city of BULIYANI
20. I descended. The banks of the river Luqi a I occupied.
In my passage the cities of the land of Qurkhi ^
1 The name means "Ammi is Baal." Ammi or Ammon was the
supreme god of Ammon, as found in the name of Ammi-nadab, a king of
Ammon in the time of Assur-bani-pal. Dr. Neubauer has shown that the
name also occurs in the compounds Rehobo-am (the son of an Ammonitess),
Jerobo-am, and Bal-aam. Balaam came from " the land of the children of
Ammo" (rendered "his people" by the A. V. ; Numb. xxii. 5).
." Or, perhaps, Ankhite. But the name seems to mean "A god is
Khite " (? the Hittite deity).
' Bitani is the district south of Lake Van. Urume may be the Urima
of classical geography, the modern Urmu. See vol. i. p. 99, n. 3.
* One of the Vannic gods was called Elipris, and a Vannic chieftain had
the name Lut-ipris. The suffix -a in Vannic denotes "the people of."
' See above, p. 140, n. 5.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 149
which (is) in the lowlands I conquered. Their
numerous soldiers
21. I slew. Their spoil I carried away. The cities I
burned with fire. To the city of Ardupa I came
forth. At that time the tribute
22. of Akhi-ramu 1 the son of Yakhiri of the country of
Zalla,^ of the son of Bakhiani of the country of
the HiTTiTES, and of the kings of the country of
Khani-rabbat,^ silver, gold,
23. lead, plate(s) of copper, oxen, sheep (and) horses as
their tribute I received. In the eponymy of Assur-
idin * news was brought that
24. Tsab-Dadi^ the prince of the country of Dagara had
revolted. The (people of the) country of Zamua ^
throughout its circuit encouraged one another. The
lowlanders of the city of Babite
25. built up a wall. To make war and battle they came
against me. In reliance on AssuR the great lord,
my lord, and Nergal
26. who marches before me, with the forceful weapons
which AssUR the lord gave unto me, my arms (and)
armies I assembled ; to the lowlands
27. of the city of Babite I marched. The inhabitants
trusted to the strength of their armies and offered
battle. In the powers supreme of Nergal who
marches
28. before me I fought with them. I made a destruction
of them. I shattered their forces; 1460 of their
fighting-men in the lowlands
1 The same name as that of Hiram king of Tyre.
2 Called Azalla in col. iii. line 59. It bordered Bit-Adin on the north-
west, the district belonging to "the son of Bakhian " being again to the
north of it.
s " Khani the great," so called to distinguish it from another Khani
nearer Babylonia. It was the district of which Malatiyeh was the capital.
J B.C. 882.
■' "The man of Hadad " or Rimmon. The name may also be read
Nur-Dadi, "the light of Hadad."
8 Zamua lay among the mountains of eastern Kurdistan, between
Sulamaniyeh and the Shirwan, and must be distinguished from another
Zamua, called "Zamua of Bitani," and more correctly Mazamua, which
adjoined the shores of Lake Van.
ISO RECORDS OF THE PAST
29. I slew. The cities of Uze, Birutu, (and) Lagalaga
their stronghold, together with 1 00 towns dependent
on them, I captured.
30. Their spoil, their possessions, their oxen (and) their
sheep I carried away. Tsab-Dadi, to save his life,
to an inaccessible mountain
31. ascended; 1200 of their soldiers I transported. From
the city of Dagara I departed. To the city of
Bara I approached. The city of Bara
32. I captured. Three hundred and twenty of their soldiers
I slew with weapons. Their oxen, their sheep (and)
their heavy spoil I brought away.
33. Three hundred of their soldiers I transported. On
the 15th day of the month Tisri^ I departed from
the city of Kalzi.^ Into the lowlands of the city
of Babite I descended.
34. From the city of Babite I departed. To the country
of NiziR which they call the land of Lullu (and)
the land of Kinipa^ I approached. The city of
Buna'si their stronghold
35. belonging to Mutsatsina and 20 cities dependent upon
it I captured. The soldiers banded together ; they
occupied an inaccessible mountain. Assur-natsir-
pal the hero after them
36. pursued like birds. In the mountain of Nizir he
scattered their scouts; 326 of their fighting men
he utterly destroyed. Its horses he seized.
37„ The ravines and torrents of the mountain devoured
their remnants. Seven cities which (are) in the
country of Nizir, which they had made their strong-
holds, I captured. Their warriors
38. I slew. Their spoil, their goods, their oxen (and) their
' September.
^ Now Shamamah (Hazeh), south-west of Arbela.
' The ' ' mountain of Nizir " was that on which the ark of the Clialdjean
Noah was believed to have rested. It lay among the Kurdish mountains
of Pir Mam, a little to the south of Rowandiz, between latitudes 35° and
36°. The sentence may also be rendered "which the (people of) Lullu
call Kinipa," and Lullu may be identified with the country called LuUubu.
Cp. line 77.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 151
sheep I carried away. The cities I burned with
fire. At my camp thereupon I made a halt.
39. From this camp I next departed. To the cities in the
plain of the land of Nizir,i whose site had been
seen by no one, I marched. The city of Larbu'sa,
40. the stronghold of Kirtiara (and) 8 cities dependent on
it I captured. The men banded together; they
occupied an inaccessible mountain. The mountain
like the blade of an iron sword
41. was in appearance, the lair (?)2 of his armies. After
them I ascended. Into the midst of the mountain
I threw their bodies; 172 of their warriors I slew;
the soldiers
42. I piled up on the rocks of the mountain. Their spoil,
their goods, their oxen (and) their sheep I brought
away. The cities with fire
43. I burned. I hung their heads on the vines of the
mountain. Their young men (and) their maidens
1 burned as a holocaust. Thereupon I made a
halt at my camp ;
44. from this camp I next marched forth. One hundred
and fifty cities of the citizens of Larbu'sa, Dur-
LuLUMA, BuNAi'sA (and) Bara I captured.
45. Their warriors I slew. Their spoil I carried away.
The cities I threw down, dug up (and) burned with
fire. Fifty men of the city of Bara I slew in com-
bat in the field.
4 6. At that time the kings of the country of Zamua, every
one of them, were overwhelmed by the fear of the
glory of AssuR my lord. They embraced my feet.
Horses, silver (and) gold
47. I received. I made all the country to turn (to me)
with one voice. I laid on them a present of horses,
silver, gold, grain (and) straw.
48. I departed from the city (I had named) Ttikulti-Assur-
atsbat? The foot of the mountain of Nispi I
' Not " above the mountain of Nizir," as Peiser reads.
2 Mania, from manitu, "a couch."
' "I have put my trust in Assur, "
IS2 RECORDS OF THE PAST
occupied. All the night I pursued (my march).
To cities whose situation (is) remote, which in sight
of the mountain of Nispi ^
49. are situated, which Tsab-Dadi had made his strong-
holds, I marched. The city of Birutu I captured
(and) burned with fire. During the eponymy of
Bel-aku ^ I was staying in Nineveh when news
50. was brought that Ameka (and) Arastua had withheld
the tribute and dues of Assur my lord. By the
command of Assur the great lord, my lord, (and)
Nergal who goes before me,
51. on the first day of the month Sivan ^ for the third time
against the country of Zamua I made a campaign.*
The face of my chariots and armies I could not see.
From the city of Kalzi I departed. The lower
Zab^
5 2. I crossed. Into the lowlands of the city of Babite I
entered. The river Radanu ® I crossed. To the
foot of the mountain of the country of 'Simaki I
was continually '' approaching. Oxen,
53. sheep (and) wine, the tribute of the country of Dagara
I received. From the foot of the mountain of
'Simaki strong chariots ^ (and) riding-horses which
had been bred there I brought away with me in
store.^ (All) night long till
54. dawn I pursued (my) march. The river Dhurnat^" I
crossed. In a car (?) of dark-blue stone I ap-
proached the city of Ammali the stronghold of
Arastua.
' A variant text has " in sight of the whole mountain (and) the plain "
(Kdinu).
^ B.C. 881. The reading of the name of the eponym is uncertain.
3 May. ■* Literally " a muster. "
" The Kapros of classical geography, which flows from the east into
the Tigris a little to the south of Kalah Sherghat (the ancient Assur).
* The modem Adhem, which passes through the district of R^dhftn. It
was the Physkos of classical geography, joining the Tigris at Opis.
' Literally " all my days. ' ^ A variant text has "gift-chariots."
1 Literally " I deposited with myself."
^^ The Tornadotus of classical geography, the modern Diyftleh, which
falls into the Tigris a little below Bagdad.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 153
55. With combat (and) slaughter I attacked the city; I
captured (it); 800 of their fighting-men I slew with
weapons. With their bodies I filled the streets of
their city. With their blood
56. I dyed their houses. I captured the soldiers alive with
the hand. Their numerous spoil I carried away.
The city I overthrew, dug up (and) burned with
fire. Their young men
57. (and) maidens I burned as a holocaust. The city of
KiziRTU their
58. stronghold belonging to Zabini and the cities which
(were) dependent upon them I captured. Their
warriors I slew. Their spoil
59. I carried away. The cities of Bar a belonging to
Kirtiara, of Dura (and) of Buni'sa as far as the
lowlands of the country of Khasmar I overthrew,
dug up (and) burned with fire.
60. To mounds and ruins I reduced (them). From the
midst of the cities of Arastua I departed. Into the
lowlands which (are) in sight of the mountains of
Lara (and) Bidirgi, inaccessible mountains, which
for the passage
61. of chariots and soldiers were not suited, I descended.
To the city of Zamri ^ the royal city of Ameka the
Zamuan I approached. Ameka from the face of
my mighty weapons (and) my battle
62. vehement fled away and betook himself to an inacces-
sible mountain. The furniture of his palace (and)
his chariot I carried off. From the city of Zamri
I departed. The river Lallu I crossed. To the
mountains of Etini,
63. a difficult locality, which for the passage of chariots and
armies was unsuited, into the midst of which none
of the kings my fathers had penetrated, I marched.
The king leaving his armies to the mountains of
Etini
64. ascended. His property (and) his goods, numerous
utensils of copper, a wild bull of copper, a plate of
1 Compare the Zimri of Jer. xxv. 25.
IS4 RECORDS OF THE PAST
copper, bowls of copper, rings (?) of copper, the
treasures of his palace (and) his treasury
65. from the midst of the mountains I carried off. At my
camp thereupon I made a halt. In reliance upon
AssuR (and) Samas the gods my helpers from that
camp I next departed. After him
66. I betook myself The river Edir I crossed. To
within sight of the mountains of 'Suani and
Elaniu, mighty mountains, I slew their numerous
warriors. His property, his goods, a wild bull of
copper,
67. plates of copper, bowls of copper, cups of copper,
numerous utensils of copper, a dish of gold with a
handle, their oxen, their sheep, their goods,
68. (and) their heavy spoil I carried away from the foot
of the mountains of Elaniu, I stripped him of his
horses. Ameka, to save his life, ascended to the
mountain of 'Sabua.
69. The cities of Zamru, Ara'sitku, Ammaru, Par'sindu,
Iritu (and) 'Suritu his stronghold, together with
150 cities
70. which (were) dependent on it I overthrew, dug up (and)
burned with fire. To mounds and ruins I reduced
(them). While I was staying at the entrance to the
city of Par'sindu, upon riding-horses (I made) the
eunuchs
7 I. sit as a seat. Fifty fighting-men of Ameka I slew in
the field. Their heads I cut off. On vines in the
arbour of his palace I hung (them).
72. Twenty soldiers I captured alive with the hand. In
the wall of his palace I immured (them). From
the city of Zamri I carried the riding-horses (and)
eunuchs along with me.
73. To the cities of Ata the Arzizan, into which none of
the kings my fathers had penetrated, I marched.
The cities of Arzizu (and) Ar'sindu
74. his stronghold, together with ten cities which (were)
dependent on it, which are situated in the midst
of the mountain of Nispf, an inaccessible mountain,
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 155
I conquered. Their warriors I slew. The cities I
overthrew, dug up (and) burned with fire.
75. To my camp thereupon I returned. At that time
copper, tabbili of copper," rings of copper (and)
bracelets, the tribute of the country of 'Sitammena,
which like women
76. they wear,^ I received. From the city of Zamri I de-
parted. To the mountain of Lara, an inaccessible
mountain, which for the passage of chariots and
armies was unsuited, with axes of iron I hewed (my
way).
77. With picks of bronze I excavated (my path). I made
a passage for the chariots and soldiers. To the
city of Tukulti-Assur-atsbat which the people of
Lulu call Arakdi I descended. The kings
78. of the country of Zamua, every one of them, were
terrified at the appearance of my weapons and the
magnitude of my sovereignty, and embraced my feet.
Tribute (and) gifts of silver, gold, lead,
79. copper, plates of copper, variegated cloths, horses,
oxen, sheep (and) wine in addition to what I had
before prescribed I imposed upon them. Their
governor
80. in the city of Calah ^ I appointed. While I was stay-
ing in the country of Zamua, the cities of Khudun,
Khartis,^ Khupuska (and) Gozan * the fear
81. of the glory of AssuR my lord overwhelmed. Tribute
(and) gifts of silver, gold, horses, variegated cloths,
oxen, sheep (and) wine they brought to me. As for
the men,
82. as many as had fled from the face of my weapons (and)
had ascended the mountains, I marched after them.
In sight of the countries of Aziru and 'Simaki they
had encamped. The city of Me'su their strong-
hold
83. they had made. The land of Aziru I overthrew (and)
^ Tsapruni : not hom isaparu, " to murmur. "
2 Now Nimrftd. * Or Murtis,
* See above, p. 140, note 4.
IS6 RECORDS OF THE PAST
dug up. From within sight of the country of
'SiMAKi as far as the river Dhurnat I piled up
their corpses. Five hundred of their fighting-men
I utterly destroyed.
84. Their heavy spoil I carried away. I burned the cities
with fire. At that time in the country of Zamua
the city of Adlila, which 'Sibir king of Kar-Duni-
as 1 after capturing it had destroyed
85. (and) had reduced to mounds and ruins, Assur-natsir-
pal king of Assyria restored again. Its wall I
encircled. A palace for the seat of my majesty in
the middle (of it) I founded, adorned (and)
strengthened. In addition to what I had before
prescribed
86. grain (and) straw from all the country I heaped up
within (it). I called its name Dur-Assur.^ On
the first day of the month Sivan, during the
eponymy of Sa-samu-damqu ^ I assembled my
chariots (and) armies.
87. The river Tigris I crossed. Into the land of
KuMMUKH I descended. A palace in the city of
TiLULi I occupied (?) I received the tribute of the
land of KuMMUKH. From the land of Kummukh
I departed. Into the lowlands
88. of the land of the Astarte goddesses* I descended.
In the city of Kibaki I made a halt. Oxen,
sheep, wine (and) plates of copper I received as
the tribute of the city of Kibaki. From the city
of Kibaki I departed.
89. The city of Mattevate I approached. The city of
Matyaute (sic) together with the city of Kabranisa
I captured: 2,800 of their soldiers I slew with
weapons : their numerous spoil I carried away.
90. All the men who had fled from the face of my
^ Babylonia.
"- " The fortress of Assur. " 3 g^c. 880.
* We know from the treaty concluded between Ramses II and the
Hittites that the Hittites worshipped Astartfi by the side of their supreme
god Sutekh. The goddess who presided over Hierapolis, the successor of
Carchemish in classical times, was Alargatis, that is Atar-'Ati or Astartfi-
'Ati.
THE INSClilPriON OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 157
weapons embraced my feet. Their cities I let
them occupy. Tribute, gifts (and) governors I
appointed ^ ; upon them
91. I imposed. An image of my person I made. The
power of my strength I inscribed upon (it). In
the city of Matteyate I erected (it). From the
city of Matteyate I departed. To the city of
Zazabukha
92. I directed (my) camp. The tribute of the country of
QuRKHi, oxen, sheep, wine, plates of copper, wild
bulls of copper (and) bowls of copper I received.
From the city of Zazabukha I departed.
93. In the city of Ir'sia I made a halt. I burned the city
of Ir'sia with fire. The tribute of the city of
'Sura, oxen, sheep, wine (and) plates of copper I
received in the city of Ir'sia.
94. From the city of Ir'sia I departed. In the midst of
the mountain of Kasyari I made a halt. The
city of Madaranzu (and) two cities which (were)
dependent upon it I captured. Their warriors I
slew.
95. Their spoil I carried away. I burned the cities with
fire. For six days in the heart of the mountain
of Kasyari, a mighty mountain, a locality difficult
(of access), v/hich for the passage of chariots and
armies
96. was unsuited, the mountain with axes of iron I hewed,
with picks of bronze I excavated. I made a
passage for the chariots and soldiers. In the
cities by the side of the bridge which (is) in the
mountain of Kasyari
97. oxen, sheep, wine, plates of copper (and) bowls of
copper I received. I crossed Mount Kasyari in
the centre. For the second time I descended
into the lands of Nairi. (In) the city of
Sinigisa 2
98. I made a halt. From the city of Sigisa I departed
^ Literally ' ' strengthened. "
^ Or Sigisa, according to a variant text.'
IS8 KECORDS OF THE PAST
To the city of Madara, the stronghold of
Labdhuri the son of Dhubu'si I approached. The
city was very strong. Four walls
99. surrounded (it). I attacked the city. They dreaded
the face of my powerful weapons, and its spoil, its
goods (and) their sons I received in ransom. In
place of their lives I accepted them.^
100. Tribute, gifts (and) governors I imposed upon them.
The city I overthrew (and) dug up. To a mound
and ruin I reduced (it). From the city of
Madara I departed. Into the city of Tuskhan ^
1 01. I descended. A palace in the city of Tuskhan I
commenced.* The tribute of the country of
NiRDUN, horses, mules, plate(s) of copper, bowls
of copper, oxen, sheep
102. (and) wine in the city of Tuskhan I received. Sixty
cities (and) strong fortresses in the mountain of
Kasyari belonging to Labdhuri the son of
Dhubu'si I overthrew (and) dug up. To mounds
103. (and) ruins I reduced (them). In reliance on AssuR
my lord I departed from the city of Tuskhan.
Gift (?) chariots * (and) riding-horses bred therein
I carried off in store with me. By means of
ropes
104. I crossed the Tigris. All night I pursued (my way).
To the city of Pitura the stronghold of the
Dirrans I approached. The city was very
difficult (of access).
105. Two walls surrounded (it). Its citadel was situated
like the peak of a mountain. Through the hands
supreme of Assur my lord, (and) with the might
of my armies and my vehement battle,
106. I fought with them. After two days, towards midday
I roared upon them like Rimmon the inundator of
the plain. I rained destruction upon them. With
violence
' Literally " to the preservation of their lives I turned them.''
'^ Also written Tuskha.
■' Or, perhaps, " laid out broadly. "
■■ The printed text has "weapons."
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 159
107. and power my fighting-men flew upon them like the
vulture. I captured the city; 800 of their
fighting-men I slew with weapons ; their heads
108. I cut off. Many soldiers I took alive with the hand ;
the rest of them I burned with fire. Their heavy
spoil I carried away. A pyramid of the living
(and) of heads
109. I built up at the entrance to its chief gate. I impaled
700 men upon stakes at the approach to their
great gate. The city I overthrew, dug up (and)
reduced to a mound and ruin. Their young men
no. (and) their maidens I burned as a holocaust. The
city of KuKUNU which (is) at the mouth of the
pass of the mountain of Madni I captured. I
slew with weapons 700 of their soldiers.
111. Their numerous spoil I carried away. Fifty cities of
the country of Dirra I captured. Their warriors
I slew. Their spoil I carried away. Fifty soldiers
I captured alive with the hand. The cities I
overthrew,
112. dug up (and) burned with fire. I outpoured upon
them the splendour of my sovereignty. From the
city of PiTURA^ I departed. Into the city of
Arbaki in the country of Qurkhi of Betani I
descended.
113. They were terrified before the glory of my majesty,
and deserted their cities (and) their strong fortresses.
To save their lives they ascended Mount Madni,
a mighty mountain.
114. I pursued after them. A thousand of their fighting-
men I cut to pieces in the midst of the inaccessible
mountain. With their blood I dyed the mountain.
With their bodies the valleys
115. (and) torrents of the mountain I filled. I took 200
soldiers alive with the hand. I cut off their hands.
I carried away 2000 captives. Their oxen (and)
their sheep
116. to a countless number I took home. The towns of
' Also written Bitura.
l6o RECORDS OF 7'HE PAST
Iyaya (and) 'Salaniba, the strongholds of the
city of Arbaki I captured. I slew their warriors.
I carried away their spoil.
117. I overthrew (and) dug up 250 cities whose walls
(were) strong in the countries of Nairi. To
mounds and ruins I reduced (them). The
harvests of their mountain I reaped ; the corn
118. (and) straw I accumulated in the city of Tuskhan.
Against Ammi-bahla the son of Zamani his nobles
revolted and murdered him. In order to avenge
119. Ammi-bahla I marched. Before the appearance of
my weapons and the grandeur of my sovereignty
120. they had fear, and chariots (with) yokes of horses,
trappings of men (and) horses, 460
121. horses bound to the yoke, 2 talents of silver, 2 talents
of gold, TOO talents
122. of lead, 100 talents of copper, 300 talents of iron,
100 plates of copper, 3000 handles of copper,
bowls of copper, cups of copper,
123. 1000 variegated cloths, linen vestments, a dish of
black wood, ivory (and) gold, the possessions
124. (and) treasure of the palace, 2000 oxen, 5000 sheep,
his wife with her rich dowry (and) the daughters
125. of the nobles with their rich dowries I received.^
' An inscription of Assur-natsir-pal, engraved on a monolith found
among tlie ruins of Kurldi on the Tigris (20 miles below Diarbekir), has
the following variant account of the campaign : — ' ' (42) I flayed the skin
of Bur-ram4nu the rebel : I covered (with it) the wall of the city of 'Sinabu.
Arteanu his brother I raised to the chieftainship ; (43) 2 manehs of gold,
13 manehs of silver, 1000 sheep (and) 2000 ... as tribute ... I
imposed upon him. The cities of 'SiNABU (and) TiDU, the fortresses which
(44) Shalmaneser king of Assyria, a prince who went before me, had
occupied for himself against the country of Nairi, which the Arumu
[Aramaeans] had taken away by force, to (45) myself I restored : the men
of the city of AssuR who had garrisoned the fortresses of (the god) ASSUR
in the land of Nairi, whom in the land of Arumu (the AuAMi^iANS) (46)
had oppressed, their cities [and] their farmsteads [bit-kummi] which had
been destroyed (?) I caused them to occupy (and) I settled them in quiet
seats. Fifteen hundred (47) soldiers, Akhl.\me from the country of
Arman [Aramaeans?] belonging to Ammi-pahli the son of ZamSni I
removed, to ASSYRIA I brought (them). The harvests of Nairi (48) I cut
down ; in the cities of Tuskha, Damdamu'sa, 'Sinabu (and) TiDU for
the benefit of my country I stored (them) up. (49) The cities of the
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL i6i
Assur-natsir-pal the great king, the powerful king,
the king of multitudes, the king of Assyria, the
son of Tiglath-Uras the great king, the powerful
king,
126. the king of multitudes, the king of Assyria, the son
of Rimmon-nirari the great king, the powerful
king, the king of multitudes, the king of the same
Assyria ; the hero warrior who has marched in
reliance upon Assur his lord, and among the
kinglets
127. of the four zones has had no rival; the king who
from the fords of the Tigris to the land of
Lebanon and the great sea,^
128. the land of Laqe throughout its circuit (and) the land
of the Shuhites as far as the city of Rapiqi ^ has
subdued beneath his feet ; from the head of the
sources
129. of the 'Supnat ^ as far as the lowlands of Bitani his
hand has conquered; from the lowlands of
KiRRURi to the country of Gozan, from the fords
of the Lower Zab
130. to the city of Tel-Bari which (is) above the land of
Zaban,* from the city of the Tel"^ of Aptani to
the city of the Tel of Zabdani, the cities of
Khirimu (and) Kharutu (and) the country of
Birate ^
131. belonging to Kar-Dunias^ to the frontiers of my
country I have restored (the territory), and the
broad regions of the countries of Nairi throughout
countries of Nirdun (and) Luluta, the city of Ki(?)rra (and) the
countries of Aggunu, Ulliba, Arbaki and Nirbe I conquered, their
fighting-men I slew, (50) their spoil I carried away, their cities I threw
down, dug up (and) burned with fire. To mounds and ruins I reduced
(them). Taxes (Heb, haldk), tribute, and a governor I imposed upon the
country of Nairi. (51) My own prefect I imposed upon them ; they
performed homage. The sight of my weapons (and) the terror of my
sovereignty I outpoured upon the land of Naiei. "
^ The Mediterranean.
^ On the north-western frontier of Babylonia.
» The Sebbeneh Su, which joins the Tigris north of Diarbekir.
■* Zaban was on the southern side of the Lower Zab.
° Or "mound." ' "Fortresses." ' Babylonia.
VOL. II M
i62 RECORDS OF THE PAST
its whole extent I have conquered. I took the
city of Calah (in hand) anew. The old mound
132. I changed. I deepened (it) as far as the level of the
waters. To a depth of 120 tikpi I consolidated
(it). The temple of Uras my lord upon the
middle of it I founded. At that time
133. I made an image of the same Uras which did not
previously exist in the inventiveness of my heart,
even a colossus of his great divinity, with the best
of mountain-stone and fine gold.
134. I accounted him my great divinity in the city of
Calah. His festivals I ordained in the months
Sebat and Elul.i His sanctuary which had not
been built ^ I designed.
135. The holy of holies of Uras my lord I constructed
firmly in the midst of it. The temple of Beltis,
SiN,^ and GuLA, the image of Ea the king (and)
the image of Rimmon the master of heaven and
earth I erected.
COLUMN III
1. In the month Sivan, on the 2 2d day, during the
eponymy of Dagon-bil-natsir,* I departed from the
city of Calah. The Tigris I crossed. On the.
further bank of the Tigris
2. abundant tribute I received. In the city of Tabite I
made a halt. On the 6th day of the month Tammuz
I departed from the city of Tabite. I occupied
the banks of the river Kharmis.^
3. In the city of Magari'si I made a halt. From the
city of Magari'si I departed. I occupied the
banks of the river Khabur.^ (In) the city of
Sadikanni I made
4. a halt. The tribute of the city of Sadikanni, silver,
gold, lead, plates of copper, oxen, (and) sheep I
received. From the city of Sadikanni
^ January and August. ^ Or perhaps " with bowing down."
5 The Moon-god. ^ B.C. 879.
° The classical Hermos or Hirmas, flowing into the Khabour. Nisibis
was built upon its banks. " The modern Khabour.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 163
5. I departed. In the city of Qatni I made a halt. The
tribute of the city of the Qatnians I received.
From the city of Qatni I departed.
6. In the city of Dur-Kadlime ^ I made a halt. From
the city of Dur-Kadlime I departed. In the city
of Bit-Khalupe I made a halt. The tribute
7. of the country of Bit-Khalupe, silver, gold, lead, plates
of copper, variegated cloths, linen vestments, oxen
(and) sheep I received.
8. From the country of Bit-Khalupe I departed. In the
city of 'SiRQi 2 I made a halt. The tribute of the
city of the 'Sirqians, silver, gold, lead, plates, oxen
9. (and) sheep I received. From the city of 'Sirqi I
departed. In the city of Tsupri I made a halt.
The tribute of the city of the Tsuprians, silver,
10. gold, lead, plates, oxen (and) sheep I received. From
the city of Tsupria I departed. In the city of
Naqarabani I made
11. a halt. The tribute of the city of Naqarabani, silver,
gold, lead, plates, oxen (and) sheep I received.
From the city of Naqarabani
1 2. I departed. At the approach to the city of Khindani
I made a halt. On the further bank of the
Euphrates it is situated.
13. The tribute of the city of the Khindanians, silver,
gold, lead, plates, oxen (and) sheep I received.
From the city of Khindani
14. I departed. In the mountains above the Euphrates
I made a halt. From the mountains I departed.
In Bit-Sabaya^ at the approach to the city of
Kharidi
15. I made a halt. The city of Kharudu {sic) is situated
on the further bank of the Euphrates. From Bit-
Saeaya I departed. At the head of the city of
Anat*
1 Or Dur-Kumlime.
- The Circesium of classical geography, at the junction of the Euphrates
and the Khabour.
^ Sabaya is the name of a chief. ' The modern Anah.
i64 RECORDS OF THE PAST
1 6. I made a halt. The city of Anat is situated in the
middle of the Euphrates. From the city of Anat
I departed. The city of 'Suru ^ the stronghold of
17. Sadudu of the land of the Shuhites I attacked. To
the far-spread soldiers of the country of the Kassi ^
he trusted, and to make war and battle against me
18. he came. The city I attacked. For two days I
fought within (it). Before my mighty weapons
Saduta (sk) and 70 of his soldiers to
1 9. save his life plunged into the Euphrates. I captured
the city. Fifty riding-horses and (their) grooms,
the property of Nebo-baladan ^ king of Kar-Dunias
20. (and) Zabdanu his brother together with 3000 of their
soldiers, (and) Bel-bal-iddin the prophet who went be-
fore their hosts I carried off captive along with them.
21. Many soldiers I slew with weapons. Silver, gold, lead,
plates, precious mountain-stone for the adornment
of his palace,
22. chariots, horses trained to his yoke, the trappings of
the soldiers, the trappings of the horses, the
amazons * of his palaces, his spoil
23. abundant I carried away. The city I overthrew (and)
dug up. My prowess and power I laid upon the
country of the Shuhites. The fear of my sover-
eignty prevailed as far as the country of Kar-
Dunias.
24. The descent of my weapons overwhelmed the country
of Kaldu.' On the countries beside the Euph-
rates I outpoured terror. An image
1 This must be a different 'Suru from that mentioned above (p. 142,
note 3).
^ The Kassi, or Kossceans, originally a tribe from the mountains of
Elam, had occupied a part of Babylonia, and imposed a dynasty of kings
upon that country. The Kassi mentioned here were those who had settled
in Babylonia.
3 Nabu-bal-iddina, " Nebo has given a son.'' We may compare the
name of Merodach-baladan. ^ Literally " female soldiers. "
" The Kalda were a tribe who were settled in the marshes at the head
of the PersLm Gulf. This is the first time that we hear of their name, but
at alatcr period, under Merodach-baladan, the son of Yagina, they occupied
Babylonia and became so integral a part of the population as to give their
name to its inhabitants among Greek and Latin writers.
THE INSCRIPriON OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 165
25. of my person 1 made. My prowess and power I
inscribed upon (it). In the city of 'SuRU I erected
(it). Assur-natsir-pal the king whose fame
26. (and) power are everlasting, and whose face has been
directed towards the desert ; for his rule (and) his
protection (?) his heart cries out. In the city of
Calah I was staying
2 7. (when) news was brought that the men of the country ^
of Laqe, of the city of Khindanu (and) of. the
country of the Shuhites had revolted, every one of
them ; the river Euphrates
28. they had crossed. On the i8th day of the month
Sivan I departed from the city of Calah. I crossed
the Tigris. I entered the desert. To the city of
'SURU
29. in Bit-Khalupe I approached. Boats for myself I
constructed in the city of 'Suru. I occupied the
water towards the source of the Euphrates. As
far as
30. the narrows of the Euphrates I descended (the
stream). The cities of Khenti-el (and) Azi-el of
the country of Laqe I captured. Their warriors I
slew. Their spoil
31. I carried away. The cities I overthrew, dug up (and)
burned with fire. In the course of this campaign
I encompassed the lakes ^ of the river Khabur as
far as
32. the city of Tsibate in the land of the Shuhites.
The cities on the hither bank of the Euphrates
in the land of Laqe (and) in the land of the
Shuhites I overthrew, dug up (and) burned with
fire.^ Their crops (?) I cut down. Four hundred
and seventy
33. of their soldiers I slew with weapons. I captured 20*
1 A variant text has " city."
^ We must read tamdti.
3 A variant text has " as far as the city of Tsibate in the land of the
Shuhites (and) the cities on the hither bank of the Euphrates in the land
of Laqe," omitting the following words.
'^ A variant text has " 30."
l66 RECORDS OF THE PAST
alive (and) impaled (them) on stakes. In the boats
I had constructed,
34. the boats of hardened Q) skin, which were fastened from
both sides ^ in the form of a pontoon, I crossed the
Euphrates at the city of Kharidi. The people of
the countries of the Shuhites (and) of Laqe
35. (and) of the city of Khindanu trusted to the strength
of their chariots, their armies (and) their forces, and
mustered 6000 of their soldiers to make war and
battle.
36. When they came forth against me, I fought with
them. I utterly destroyed them. Their chariots I
minished. I slew 6500 (sic) of their fighting-men
with weapons. What was left of them
37. was devoured by the Euphrates amid famine in the
desert.^ From the city of Kharidi in the country
of the Shuhites as far as the city of Kipina the
cities of the people of Khindanu
38. (and) of Laqe which (are) on the further bank (of the
Euphrates) I captured. Their warriors I slew.
Their spoil I carried away. The cities I overthrew,
dug up (and) burned with fire. Azi-el the Laqian
39. trusted to his forces and occupied the fords at the city
of Kipina. I fought with them. (Starting) from
the city of Kipina I utterly destroyed them. A
thousand
40. of his soldiers I slew. His chariots I minished. His
abundant spoil I carried away. His gods I carried
off. To save his life Mount Bi'suru,^ an inacces-
sible mountain towards the source
41. of the Euphrates, he occupied. For two days I pur-
sued after him. The relics of his army I slew with
weapons. The mountain (and) the Euphrates
devoured those I had destroyed of them.* As far
as
42. the cities of Dummete^ (and) Azmu, the cities of the
1 Kilallan. Jduldni m {torn edilu, " to be bolted."
'■' Or perhaps "(and) fimid disease."
' Probably the modern Tel-Basher.
* Literally " their destruction." ' Called Dummut in line 44.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 167
son of Adinu, I pursued him. The relics of his
army I slew with weapons. His abundant spoil,
his oxen (and) his sheep,
43. which like the stars of heaven were numberless I carried
away. At that time I carried off Ila the Laqian,
his chariots (and) yokes of horses, (and) 500 of his
soldiers.
44. To my country of Assyria I brought (them). The
cities of DuMMUT and Azmu I captured, over-
threw, dug up (and) burned with fire. From the
narrows of the Euphrates I came out. In the
course of this campaign
45. I encompassed Azi-el. Before my mighty weapons, in
order to save his life, he ascended (the country).
Ila, the prince of the land of Laqe, his soldiers,
his chariots (and) his teams
46. I carried off. To my city of AssuR 1 I brought (them).
Khimti-el the Laqian I besieged in his city. By
the help of AssuR my lord before my mighty wea-
pons, my vehement battle
47. (and) my enormous forces he was terrified, and the
booty of his palace, silver, gold, lead, copper,
plates of copper (and) variegated cloths, his abundant
spoil, I received, and tribute
48. (and) gifts above what I had before prescribed I im-
posed upon them. At that time 50 strong wild
bulls on the further side of the Euphrates I killed ;
8 wild bulls
49. I captured alive with the hand ; 20 ««>-birds I killed ;
20 «?V-birds I caught alive with the hand. I
founded two cities upon the Euphrates, one on
the hither bank
50. of the Euphrates whose name I called Kar-Assur-
NATSiR-PAL,2 the other on the further bank of the
Euphrates whose name I called Nibarti-Assur.*
1 Now Kaleh Sherghat, on the western bank of the Euphrates a little
above the mouth of the Lower Zab. The statement in the text seems
to be derived from the memorandum of some scribe other than the one
who furnished the account in lines 43, 44.
2 "The fortress of Assur-natsir-pal." ' " The ford of Assur."
i68 RECORDS OF THE PAST
On the 2oth day of the month Sivan I departed from
the city of Calah ;
51. I crossed the Tigris; to the country of Bit-Adini I
marched. To the city of Kap-rabi ^ their strong-
hold I approached. The city was very strong.
Like a cloud of heaven it was elevated.
52. The inhabitants trusted to their numerous soldiers and
descended not to embrace my feet. By the com-
mand of AssuR the great lord, my lord, and Nergal
who marches before me I attacked the city.
53. With mounds (?) ^ overthrowing (?) (and) battering-rams
I captured the city. Their numerous warriors I
slew. I utterly destroyed 800 of their fighting-men.
This spoil (and) their goods I carried away; 2400
54. of their soldiers I carried off. To the city of Calah
I transported (them). The city I overthrew, dug
up (and) burned with fire. I put an end to it. I
laid the fear of the glory of Assur my lord upon
Bit-Adini.
55. At that time the tribute of Akhuni the son of Adini
(and) of Khabini of the city of Tel-Abna,^ silver,
gold, lead, copper, variegated cloths, linen vest-
ments (and) "beams
56. of cedar, the treasures of his palace, I received. I
took their hostages. I extended mercy to them.
On the 8th day of the month lyyar* I departed
from the city of Calah. The Tigris
57.1 crossed. To the city of Carchemish ^ in the country
of the HiTTiTES I took the road. To the country
of Bit-Bakhiani I approached. The tribute of the
son of Bakhiani, chariots, teams, horses, silver,
58. gold, lead, copper (and) plates of copper I received.
The chariots, riding-horses (and) grooms of the son
of Bakhiani I took away with me. From Bit-
Bakhiani I departed.
' " The great rock " in Aramaic. 1 . ■,
^ Billim, 3 " The mound of the stone." ''April.
» Written Gargamis, the Hittite capital on the western bank of the
Euphrates, now marked by the ruins of JarablOs, a UtUe to the north of the
junction of the Sajur and the Euphrates,
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 169
59. To the country of Azalli ^ I approached. The tribute
of Dadu-imme ^ the [AJzalian, chariots , teams,
horses, silver, gold, lead, copper,
60. plates of copper, oxen, sheep (and) wine I received.
The chariots, riding-horses (and) grooms I carried
ofiF in store with me. From the country of Azalli
I departed. To Bit-Adini I approached.
6r. The tribute of Akhuni the son of Adini, silver, gold,
lead, copper, plate(s) of copper, dishes of ivory,
couches of ivory, yokes of ivory,
62. thrones made of ivory, of silver (and) of gold, torques
of gold, beads ^ of gold in large quantities, pend-
ants (>) of gold, a sword-blade of gold, oxen,
sheep (and) wine as his tribute I received.
63. The chariots, riding-horses (and) grooms of Akhuni I
carried off with me. At that time the tribute of
Khabini of the city of Tel-Abna, 4 manehs of silver
(and) 400 sheep I received from him.
64. Ten manehs of silver in his first year as a tribute I
imposed upon him. From the country of Bit-Adini
I departed. The Tigris at its flood in boats of
hardened (?) skin thereupon
65. I crossed. To the country of Carchemish I ap-
proached. The tribute of 'Sangara king of the
country of the Hittites, 20 talents of silver, beads
of gold, a chain of gold, sword-blades (?) of gold,
100 talents
66. of copper, 250 talents of iron, sacred bulls of copper,
bowls of copper, libation-cups of copper, a censer (?)
of copper, the multitudinous furniture of his palace,
of which the like
67. was never received,* couches, seats (and) thrones, dishes
(and) weapons made of ivory, 200 slave-girls, varie-
gated cloths,
68. linen vestments, black transparent stuffs (and) gray
^ See above, col. ii. line 22. ° Also written Dadu-ihme.
' 'Sahri, the Hebrew Sakaronim, translated "crescents" in the Re-
vised Version of Isa. iii. 18.
^ Or, making ki-l al ideographic ' ' whose weight could not be esti-
mated. "
170 RECORDS OF THE PAST
transparent stuffs, sirnuma stones, the tusks of ele-
phants, a white chariot, (and) small images of gold in
quantities, the ornaments of his royalty, I received
from him. The chariots,
69. riding-horses (and) grooms of the city of Carchemish
I carried off with me. All the kings of the (sur-
rounding) countries came to my presence and em-
braced my feet. Their hostages I took.
70. They rejoiced at my face. To the land of Lebanon
they went. From the city of Carchemish I de-
parted. In sight of the countries of Munzigani
(and) Khamurga I took (my way).
71. I passed the country of Akhanu on my left. To the
city of Khazazi ^ belonging to Lubarna the Pati-
nian I approached ; gold, cloths (and) linen vest-
ments I received.
72.1 forded the river Apre.^ I crossed (it) making a
halt. From the banks of the Apre I departed.
To the city of Kunulua ^ the capital of Lubarna
the Patinian
73. I approached. The face of my powerful weapons
(and) vehement battle he feared, and to save his
life he embraced my feet. Twenty talents of silver,
one talent of gold,
74. 100 talents of lead, 100 talents of iron, 1000 oxen,
10,000 sheep, 1000 variegated cloths (and) linen
vestments, small images (and) weapons in quantities,
75. the legs of couches, seats (and) couches in quantities,
dishes of ivory (and) numerous utensils, the multi-
tudinous furniture of his palace, the like of which
76. had never been received, 10 female musicians, rings
(and) numerous . . .* (and) the great maces (?)^ of
the great lords, as his tribute I received from him.
Mercy unto him
^ Now 'Azaz, a few raijes north-west of Aleppo.
^ The modern Afrin.
' Kunulua seems to be the Gindarus of the classical writers. It is
called Kinalua by Shalmaneser II, and Kunalie by Tiglath-Pileser III.
** Kam^mati-X . . . [jnaytdi.
" Pagutu, written /a^W in S 2037, ir.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 171
77. I extended. The chariots, riding-horses (and) grooms
of the Patinians I carried off with me. His host-
ages I took. At that time the tribute of Gu'si 1
7 8. the Yakhanian, silver, gold, lead, [copper],^ oxen, sheep,
variegated cloths, (and) linen vestments, I received.
From the city of Kunulua the capital of Labarna
79. the Patinian I departed. The river [OronJtes I
crossed. On the banks of the Orontes I halted.
From the banks of the Orontes I departed. In
sight
80. of the countries of Yaraqi ' (and) Yahturi I took
(my way). The country of . . . Ku I traversed.
On the banks of the river 'Sangura* I made (a
halt). From the banks of the river 'Sagura {sic) I
departed. In sight
81. of the countries of 'Saratini (and) Kalpani ^ I took
(my way). On the banks [of the river] ... I
made [offjerings. Into the city of Aribua the
stronghold of Lubarna I entered.
82. The city I took for myself. The corn and straw of
the country of Lukhuti I harvested (and) heaped
up within (it). I made a feast in his palace. Col-
onists from Assyria
83. I settled within (it). While I was staying in the city
of Aribua I conquered the cities of the land of
Lukhuti. Their numerous warriors I slew. I
overthrew, dug up, and with fire
84. I burned. I captured (some) soldiers alive with the
hand On stakes I impaled (them) at the approach
to their cities. At that time I occupied the slopes
of Lebanon. To the great sea
85. of Phoenicia I ascended. At the great sea I hung up
my weapons. I offered sacrifices to the gods.
The tribute of the kings of the coasts of the sea,
1 Called Agu'si by Shalmaneser IT, the successor of Assur-natsir-pal.
2 There is a lacuna here in the text.
3 Yaraqi was a district of Hamath in the time of Tiglath-Pileser III.
* The modern Sajur, which flows from the north-west into the Euphrates
near the site of Pethor and a little to the south of that of Carchemish.
^ Not Duppani, as Dr. Peiser reads.
172 RECORDS OF 'J HE PAST
86. of the Tyrians, the Sidonians, the Gebalites, the
Makhallatians, the Maizians, the Kaizians,^ the
Phcenicians, and of the citizens of Arvad
87. in the middle of the sea, silver, gold, lead, copper,
plate[s] of copper, variegated cloths, linen vestments,
great maces (?) (and) small 7naces (?),
88. tisu wood, seats of ivory (and) a porpoise the offspring
of the sea, as their tribute I received. They em-
braced my feet. To the mountains of Khamani ^
I ascended. Logs
89. of cedar, sherbin,^ juniper (and) cypress I cut. I
offered sacrifices to my gods. I erected a memorial
of my warlike deeds. Upon it I wrote (?) *
90. The logs of cedar were transported (?) from the moun-
tain of Amanus, as materials for E-sarra,^ for my
temple have I stored (them), even (for) the Temple
of Rejoicing (and) for the temple of Sin and
Samas the holy gods.
91. To the country of fir-trees* I went The country of
fir-trees thoughout its whole extent I conquered.
Logs of fir I cut. To the city of Nineveh
92. I brought (them). To Istar the lady of Nineveh,
my benefactress I offered (them). During the
eponymy of Samas-nuri,' by the command of Assur
the great- lord, my lord, on the 20th day of the
month lyyar ^ from
93. the city of Calah I departed. The Tigris I crossed.
Into the land of Qipani I descended. The tribute
of the city-chiefs of the land of Qipani in the city
of Khuzirina
94. I received. While I was staying in this city of
> The three cities of Makhallat, IVIaiz, and Kaiz are identified by Prof.
Delitzsch with the later TripoHs (now TripoU).
' Amanus, bordering on the Gulf of Antioch.
' The smaller cypress or Oxycedrus.
< The reading of the word is uncertain. It is perhaps asqup, from
saqapu "to cover. . , ■ ,
» E-sarra, '■ the temple of the firmament, " was properly the mythological
name of the sky ; but actual temples were named after it in the cities of
Babylonia and Assyria.
i MMn. ' B.C. 867. » April.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-FAL 173
Khuzirina the tribute of Ittih the Zallian (and)
Giri-Dadi ^ the Assaian, silver,
95. gold, oxen (and) sheep, I received. In those days
beams of cedar, silver (and) gold, the tribute of
Qata-zili
96. the KoMAGENiAN I received. From the city of Khu-
zirina I departed. The banks of the Euphrates
towards (its) upper part I occupied. The country
of Kuppu
97. I traversed. I entered the midst of the cities of the
countries of Assa (and) Qurkhi which (are) opposite
to the land of the Hittites. The cities of UMalia
(and) Khiranu
98. the strongholds which are situated in the neighbourhood
of the country of Adani I conquered. Their
numerous warriors I slew. Their spoil to a count-
less amount
99. I carried away. The cities I overthrew (and) dug up.
I burned with fire 150 cities which were dependent
on them. From the city of Karania
100. I departed. Into the lowlands of the country of
Amadani^ I descended. Into the midst of the
country of Dirria I entered. The cities in sight
loi. of the countries of Amadani (and) Arqania I burned
with fire. The country of Mallanu which adjoins
the country of Arqania I took for myself. From
the country of Mallanu I departed.
102. Into the cities of the country of Zamba on the banks
of the bridge (I entered and) burned (them) with
fire. The river Tsua I crossed. On the river
Tigris I made (a halt). The cities
103. on the hither and further side of the Tigris, in the
country of Arkania {sic) I reduced to mounds and
ruins. All the land of Qurkhi was afraid and
my feet
104. embraced. Their hostages I took. I appointed a
1 Called Kiglri-Dadi by Shalmaneser II. Instead of Zallian we have
Azallian above, line 59.
2 The country surrounding the classical Amida, now Diarbekr. The
capital Amedi is mentioned in line 107.
174 RECORDS OF THE PAST
governor of my own to be over them. From the
lowlands of the country of Amadani I came out
at the city of Barza-nistun.^
105. To the city of Damdammu'sa the stronghold of Hani
the son of Zamani^ I approached. The city I
besieged. My warriors flew like bird(s) upon
them.
106. I slew 600 of their fighting-men with weapons. I cut
off their heads. I captured 400 soldiers alive
with the hands.
107. I brought away 3000 of their captives. I took this
city for myself. The living soldiers (and) the
heads I brought to the city of Amedi his capital.^
108. I built up a pyramid with the heads at the approach
to his main gate. The living soldiers I impaled
on stakes at the gates of his city.
109. I fought a battle within his main gate. I cut down
his plantations. From the city of Amedi I departed.
Into the lowlands of Mount Kasyari (and) of the
city of Allab'sia
1 10. which none among my fathers had cut off or proclaimed
(war) against (and) approached,* I descended.
The city of Uda the stronghold of Labdhuri, the
son of Dhubu'si
111. I approached. The city I attacked. With mounds (?)
battering-rams (?) and war-engines I captured the
city. I slew i4[oo] of their soldiers with weapons.
Five hundred and eighty men alive
112. I took with the hand. I brought away 3000 of them
captive. The soldiers (I had captured) alive I im-
paled on stakes round about his [city]. Of some
' Perhaps identical with the Nistun mentioned in col. i. line 63. In
the Vannic language of ancient Armenia barza-nis signified "a chapel."
2 Or " the son of a rebel." According to col. i. line no, Assur-natsir-
pal had already destroyed Damdamu'sa.
•* See p. 173, note 2.
* Literally ' ' of which none had made a cutting off or a proclaiming
(and) approach." An army was accompanied by an asipu or "prophet,"
who determined by his sipti or "proclamations " whether or not it should
engage in battle. Compare line 20 above. Dr. Peiser's corrections of
the text are quite unnecessary.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 175
113. I put out the eyes. The rest of them I transported
(and) brought to Assyria. The city I took for
[myself]. Assur-natsir-'pal the great king, the
powerful king, the king of Assyria ; the son of
Tiglath-Uras,
114. the great king, the powerful king, the king of multi-
tudes, the king of Assyria ; the son of Rimmon-
nirari the great king, the powerful king, the king
of multitudes, the king of the same Assyria ; the
warrior hero, who has marched in reliance upon
AssuR his lord and among the kinglets of the
four zones
115. has no rival; the shepherd of fair shows who fears
not opposition, the unique one, the strong one
who has no confronter, the king who subdues the
disobedient, who all
116. the legions of the mighty has conquered; the powerful
male who tramples on the neck of his enemies,
who treads upon hostile lands, who breaks in
pieces the squadrons of the strong, who in reliance
on the great gods
117. his lords has marched, and his hand has overcome all
countries, has conquered all mountains and has
received all their tribute ; the exacter of hostages,
who has established empire
1 1 8. over all the world. At that time AssuR the lord the
proclaimer of my name, the magnifier of my
sovereignty, his unsparing weapon to the hands of
my lordship
119. entrusted. 'J'he widespread forces of the land of
LuLLUME I slew with weapons in mid battle. By
the help of Samas
120. and RiMMON, the gods my ministers, over the forces
of the countries of Nairi, the country of Qurkhi,
the country of Subari and the country of Nirbe ^
I roared like Rimmon the inundator.
121. The king, who from the fords of the river Tigris to
the mountains of Lebanon and the great sea, the
' " The lowlands."
176 RECORDS OF THE PAST
land of Laqe throughout its circuit, the land of
the Shuhites as far as the city of Rapiqi
12 2. has subdued beneath his feet. From the head of the
sources of the river 'Supnat to the lowlands of
BiTANi his hand has conquered. From the low-
lands of KiRRURI to
123. the country of Gozan, from the fords of the Lower
Zab to the city of Tel-Bari ^ which is above the
Zab as far as the city of the Mound of Zabdani
and the city of the Mound
124. of Aptani, the city of Khirimu, the city of Kharutu,
the country of Birate^ belonging to Babylonia
I have restored to the frontiers of my country.
From the lowlands of the city of Babite
125. to the country of Khasmar I have accounted (the
inhabitants) as men of my own country. In the
lands which I have conquered I have appointed
my governors. They have done homage.
Boundaries
126. I have set for them. Assur-natsir-pal, the exalted
prince, the adorer of the great gods, the unique
monster, the lusty, the conqueror of cities and
mountains to their furthest limits, the king of
lords, the consumer
127. of the strong, the hero who spares not, the annihilator
of opposition, the king of all kinglets, the king of
kings, the exalted prophet, named by Uras the
warrior, the hero
128. of the great gods, the king who in reliance upon
AssuR and Uras the gods his ministers has
marched in righteousness, and trackless mountains
and hostile princes (with) all
129. their countries has subdued beneath his feet. With
the foes of Assur above and below he has con-
tended and has imposed upon them tribute and
gifts. Assur-natsir-pal
130. the powerful king, named by Sin,^' the servant of
1 "The Mound of Bari."
= Or "the Fortresses." ' The Moon-god.
THE INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-NATSIR-PAL 177
Anu,i the favourite of Rimmon,^ the strongest of
the gods, the weapon unsparing, the slaughterer of
the land of his enemies (am) I. The king (who is)
strong in battle,
131. the destroyer of cities and mountains, the firstborn
of battle, the king of the four zones, the subjugator
of his foes, of mighty countries (and) of [trackless]
mountains. Kings valiant and unsparing (?) from
the rising
132. of the sun to the setting of the sun have I subdued
beneath my feet One speech have I made them
utter. The former city of Calah which Shalman-
eser ^ king of Assyria, a prince who went before
me, built,
133. this city had fallen into decay and had become a
mound and a ruin. To restore this city anew I
worked. The men whom I had captured from
the countries I had conquered, from the land of
the Shuhites, from the land of Laqe
134. throughout its circuit, from the city of 'SiRQi at the
ford of the Euphrates (and) the country of
Zamua to its furthest limits, from Bit-Adini and
the land of the Hittites, and from Liburna the
Patinian, I took (and) planted within (it).
135. A canal from the Lower Zab I excavated (and) the
river Pati-khigal* I called its name. I estab-
lished plantations in its neighbourhood. I brought
fruit and wine for AssuR my lord and the temples
of my country.
136. I changed the old mound. I dug deep as far as the
level of the water. I sunk (the foundations) 120
Hkpi to the bottom. I built up its wall. I built
(it) up (and) completed (it) from its foundation to
its coping-stone.
' The Sky-god. 2 xhe Air-god.
' Shalmaneser I, about B.C. 1300.
* "The opening of fertility," also called Babelat-khigal, "bringerof
fertility" (W. A. I., i. 27, 6).
VOL. II N
SPECIMENS OF ASSYRIAN CORRE-
SPONDENCE
By Theo. G. Pinches.
There is probably no branch of Assyro-Babylonian
literature that is more attractive than the correspond-
ence. Not only do the letters which have been found
in the ancient record-offices of Assyria and Babylonia
furnish the student with specimens of the modes of
thought and expression of the ordinary people, and
enable him to see in what consisted their communi-
cations, what were their intrigues, their joys, and their
sorrows ; but they also furnish him with valuable side-
lights upon the history, religion, manners, customs, and
last, not least, important philological information —
the peculiar idioms and pronunciation of different
districts, the varieties of style of the diff"erent scribes.
The National Collection contains several hundred
tablets bearing inscriptions of this class, addressed to
and from various persons in different parts of the
Assyrian empire, implying a very perfect system of
communication between Nineveh, the capital, and the
outlying districts. The subjects treated of vary from
simple greetings to descriptions of hostile demonstra-
ASSYRIAN CORRESPONDENCE 179
tions, congratulations, claims upon the royal clemency,
answers to astrological, philological, and other ques-
tions, medical and other reports, proclamations, etc.
etc. These letters are generally oblong tablets of
baked clay, across which the lines of writing are in-
scribed the narrow way. It is not unlikely that many
of the documents of this class which have come down
to us are copies, the originals having been sent away
from Nineveh. Papyrus was probably used for these
documents, but clay letters were also sent about.
These latter sometimes (had an envelope of clay around
them, addressed and sealed with the sender's cylinder.
The number of dated letters is very small in com-
parison with those without dates, so that we can only
arrive at an idea as to when they were written by in-
ternal evidence, such as names, places, and historical
events. The precise dates of many of them, however,
must always remain uncertain.
These documents vary in length from one to six
inches, and in width from three-quarters of an inch
to about two inches and a half. The present texts
are of sizes about midway between these two ex-
tremes.
Number i
This text is a letter from Arad-Nana, who seems
to have been a physician, to the king of Assyria at
the time, concerning a man, possibly an Assyrian
prince and near relation of the king, who was ill. In-
l8o RECORDS OF THE PAST
deed, so ill was he, that the writer did not expect that
he would live more than seven or eight days longer
(see the last sentence of the translation). One ray of
comfort only does the writer hold out, and that is,
that the sufferer might recover, if the king would only
cause prayer to be made to his gods.
Judging from the text, it is hardly likely that the
sickness from which the man was suffering was a
natural one. He had doubtless received a wound or
injury — perhaps several — and it was very probable
that one of these, which he had received in his head,
would prove mortal.
The number of the tablet is S 1064.
Translation
To the king my lord, thy servant Arad-Nana. May
there be peace for ever and ever to the king my lord. May
the god NiNEP '^ and the goddess Gula give soundness of
heart and soundness of flesh to the king my lord. Peace
for ever.
To reduce the general inflammation of his forehead,^
I have tied a bandage upon it. His face is swollen.^
Yesterday, as formerly, I opened the wound which had
been received in the midst of it. As for the bandage which
was over the swelling, matter was upon the bandage, the
size of the tip of the little finger. Thy gods, if the whole
of the flesh of his body they can restore unto him, cause
thou to invoke, and his mouth will cry * : " Peace for ever.
May the heart of the king my lord be good."
1 [Or Uras. — £</.] '■* Literally " of the wall of his eyes. "
3 Literally "In his face it rises," or " there is a rising."
■• Literal V "give."
ASSYRIAN CORRESPONDENCE i8i
He will live seven or eight days.^
The text of v^^hich the translation is given above
forms one of a number published by the Rev. S. A.
Smith in his book Die Keilschrifttexte Asiirbanipals,
Heft II (the 17th plate), to which publication I con-
tributed a German rendering, with philological notes.^
The translation here given diiifers slightly from that
which I published in S. A. Smith's Keilschrifttexte.
The alterations are two in number, the first being in
the eleventh line of the original, where, instead of
reading sa kiiri ina-stc, " which is around his eyes," I
now read sa kutal ma-sic, " of the wall of his eyes,"
most likely meaning his "brows," or "forehead;"^
the other change is in the nineteenth and twentieth
lines of the original text, where, instead of regarding
zitidi as a verb, with the meaning of " I raised," "took
off" (" I took off the bandage which was around it "),
I now take it to be a noun with the meaning of
" swelling." Though the sense of the whole is pretty
clear, the translation will probably be still further im-
proved as time goes on.
Other tablets of this class exist, and one of them,
^ I give here a transcription of tlie original text for tlie use of students:
'* Ana sarri belta, arad-ka Arad-Nana. Lusulmu addannis addannis ana
sarri belia ; Ninep u Gula dhub libbi, dhub sSre, ana sarri belia liddinu. .
Sulmu addannis. Ana lakfi sigru khaniu sa kutal Sna-su, tal'itam ina eli
urtakis, ina appisu irtumu. Ina timali, Id badi, sirdhu sa ina libbi tsab-
ituni aptadhar. Tallitam sa ina eli utuli, sarku'ina eli tallite ibbassi, ammar
qaqqadi ubanni tsikhirte. Ilani-ka, summa memeni s6re ida-su ina eli
umeduni, sutamma pi-su ittidin : Sulmu addannis. Libbu sa sarri belia
lu-dh^ba. Adu ume sibittu samantu ibaladh."
^ Afterwards published separately under the title Zwei assyrische Briefe
iibersetzt und erkldrt von Theo. G. Pinches (Pfeiffer, Leipzig, 1887).
^ [Kutalli is shown by Rm., 268.6, to signify " the brow." — Ed.'\
l82 RECORDS OF THE PAST
K 519, is of great interest in connection with the text
above translated. This other text is also from Arad-
Nana, and probably refers to the same sick man, who
seems to have been the king's son. " Concerning the
sick man," Arad-Nana says, "from whose face blood
flows, the Rab-mugi (Rab-mag .'')^ has said thus:
'Yesterday, as before, much (.') blood flowed.' He
took off those bandages {lippi Antmute) with care.^
Upon the wounds (.') of his face it was inflamed (J).
The injuries are improving. Before the blood ^ flows,
let him make the opening of the nostril * — the breath ^
will come through, the blood will stop." A few more
lines end the communication. This document, which
is exceedingly interesting, is rather defaced here and
there, thus greatly adding to the difficulties of a
naturally difficult text. The important point about
it is that, besides the interesting words that it con-
tains, it gives the record of what may be called a
surgical operation. Whether this communication pre-
ceded, in order of time, the text of which the full
translation is given above, is doubtful ; though, taking
into consideration the hopeful tone of K 519, and the
despairing tone of S 1064, the precedence of the
former is exceedingly probable.
' [This is an important identification. For the Rab-mag see Jer.
xxxix. 3, — Ed.'\
' Or "skill" (lamudanute, from the root IB?. Cf. Heb. Tisb,
'■' expert").
^ It must here be remarked, that the word " blood " (d^mu) is always
used, as in Hebrew, in the plural. The phrase in the original is " before
the bloods have flowed " [ultit fani ddme uts^ni).
• Pi nakhiri liskunu, literally " the mouth of the nostril may he malte."
" Literally " wind," sdru, a word which seems to mean also " spirit."
ASSYRIAN CORRESPONDENCE 183
111 the introduction it will be noticed that Ninep
and Gula are invoked. The former, as a star, was
sometimes named Nin-azii, " the lord physician."
His more usual title, however, is " the warrior," and he
is also named " lord of the weapon " {del kakki),
though the text which gives him this title invokes
him to "remove the sickness."^ The "warrior," able to
cause wounds, was supposed to be able also to remove
them. Gula, " the great lady," who is also called " the
lady of Isin " or Karrag, was the consort of Ninep,
especially under his name of Utu-gisgallu. Another
of her names (like those already mentioned, Akkadian)
is Nin-tin-badaga, " the lady giving life to the dead."
Nebuchadnezzar speaks of her as the preserver and
perfecter of his life (edhirat, gamilat nabistid). In
another text, where she is named Nin-Karrag (" lady
of Karrag "), she is spoken of as " the physician, high
and great," and invoked to " take far away the grief
of his (the sick man's) body." In this text her name
occurs between Istar and Bau, who are apparently
other forms of the same goddess.^
Number 2
This is a letter containing a complaint to the king
concerning some gold which seems to have been miss-
ing. The text is numbered K 538 in the National
Collection.
1 Lizziz Nineb, bel kakki, Hnissi muttalliki, ' ' may Ninep, lord of the
weapon, remain, may he remove the sickness."
2 See Prof. A. H. Sayce's lectures upon, the Religion of tli? Ancient
Babylonians (Hibbert Lectures for 1887), pp. 267, 268.
i84 RECORDS OF THE PAST
'I'o the king my lord, thy servant Arad-Nabu. May there
be peace to the king my lord ; may the gods AssuR, Samas,^
Bel, Zirpanitum,^ NABt),^ Tasmetum,* Istar of Nine-
veh ^ (and) Istar of Arbela,^ these great gods, lovers of thy
rule, let the king my lord live for a hundred years. May
they satisfy the king my lord with old age and offspring.
The gold which, in the month Tisri, the ittu, the prefect
of the palace, and I with them, missed — 2 talents of standard
gold (and) 6 talents of gold not standard — (this gold) the
hands of the rab-danibe '' placed in the house, he sealed it
up, (and) the gold for the image of the kings ^ and for the
image of the king's mother he gave not. Let the king my
lord give command to the titu (and) the prefect of the
palace, that they may discover the gold. The beginning
of the month is good.^ Let them give it to the men. Let
them do the work.^"
A translation of this interesting text was con-
tributed by me to the first series of the Records of
the Past}'^ eleven years ago. Since that time the text
itself, with a translation, has been published by the
Rev. S. A. Smith in his Keilschrifttexte Astirbanipals
(Heft 11, plate 7, and pp. 30-33); and I also con-
1 The Sun-god.
^ The consort of Bel-Merodach, also given as Zir-banitum, "seed
creatress." * Nebo, " the teacher. "
■• " She who hears," Nebo's consort. ^ Goddess of love.
* Goddess of war.
' Apparently this word means ' ' chief of the metal-workers."
^ Or, " for the image of our liing. "
^ Apparently " good to begin the work."
^^ The following is a transcription of the original text : "Ana sarri bella,
arad-ka Arad-Nab(t. Lfisalimu ana sarri belia. Assur, Samas, Bel, Zir-
panitum, Nabft, Tasmetum, Istar sa Ninua, Istar sa Arba'-ili, ilani annuti
rabuti, raimuti sarruti-ka, estin mS sanati ana sarri belia luballidhu ; sibu-
tu littutu, ana sarri belta lusabbiu khuratsu sa ina arakh Tisriti ittu aba-6gala
(1 anaku issi-sunu nikhidhftni, salsu bilti khuratsu sakru, sissu bilti la sakru
ina biti qata sa rabdanibe issakna, iktanak ; khuratsu ana tsalam sarrani,
ana tsalam sa ummi sarri \k iddin. Sarru bgli ana itti ana aba-6gala
dhfimu liskun, khuratsu liptiu. Res arkhi dhabOni. Ana umm&ni liddinu.
Dullu lipusu. "
" Vol. xi, pp. 75, 76.
ASSYRIAN CORRESPONDENCE 185
tributed to the same work (p. 86), a " free " transla-
tion in English, which does not essentially differ from
that given above. These translations are much better
than that which I gave at first, the improvements
being due to the advances which have been made in
the science of Assyriology since that was published.
The principal difference in the translation occurs
in the second part, this difference being caused by
translating the word nikhidkuni by '' we missed,"
instead of " sinned " or " transgressed." It is unlikely
that a man would voluntarily accuse himself of being
a thief, hence this rendering. The meaning of " to
miss," however, attached to this root, occurs in
Hebrew, Job v. 24, " thou shalt visit thy fold and shalt
miss nothing," ^ so that the meaning here proposed
for the word may be regarded as quite certain.
Another text referring to the making of images
will be found in S. A. Smith's Keilschrifttexte Asur-
banipals, Heft HI, plates 12-13, ^^^ PP- 39"43-
Number 3
The third text which I give is a translation of a
very interesting letter or proclaniation, apparently
written by Assur-bani-apli, or Assurbanipal, to the
Babylonians, whilst they were subject to Assyria.
After the usual royal greeting, the king speaks of
1 Revised version. See also Tregelles ' (Bagster and Sons), and
Miihlau and Volck's Geseniiis, under KtOH.
i86 RECORDS OF THE PAST
some rumour which had reached him, anent certain
seditious words uttered by a man whom he does not
name, but whom he speaks of as " the wind " {sdru),
and farther on as "the lord of slander" {bel-dababi)}
Apparently the Assyrian king wished it to be thought
that he considered this man's exhortations as simply
" vain, empty words," and the man himself as beneath
his notice ; but the letter itself indicates that he really
thought both the man and his message to be of suffi-
cient importance to counteract if he could. He
therefore exhorts the Babylonians, in fairly vigorous
terms, to pay no attention to " the lord of slander,"
and he warns them that they are responsible for the
payment of the tribute due to Assyria, which they
seemed inclined to pervert to the use of the enemy
of the Assyrian king, or at least to raise as much for
his use until they could, with his help, throw off the
Assyrian yoke. Hence the king's anger, and his
impatience for a reply to his exhortation. The text
is made the more interesting by the fact that it not
only gives the name of the eponym during whose
term of office it was written, but the name of the
person by whom it was sent as well. The number of
the text is K 84.
Translation
The will of the king to the Babylonians. — Peace from
me to your heart ; may there be good to you. The words
1 It is not unlikely thfit this person was a certain Nabft-bcl-sumati, a
descendant of Merodach-baladan, who took part in a revolt against Assur-
banipal. (See Geo. Sm'AVs Histo>y of Assurbaui/ml, pp. 200-204.)
ASSYRIAN CORRESPONDENCE 187
which the wind for the third time now has spolcen to you, -
all come (to me). I have heard them. Ye cannot govern
the wind. By the heart of Assur and Merodach,
my gods, I swear that all the evil words, which it
has spolcen against me, I am treasuring up in my heart,
and I have spoken them with my mouth. I3ut artful is he
— he has been artful. Thus the name of the Babylonians
itself is indeed evil unto me, and I do not listen to it.
Your brotherhood, which is with the Assyrians,^ and your
privileges, which I had confirmed, I have established ;
more than that there is — ye are near to my heart. ^ I
command also, that ye listen not to his sedition. Do not
make your name, which is before me,^ and before all the
world, evil ; and commit not, yourselves, a sin against God.
And the equivalence of the word, which ye are treasur-
ing up in your hearts, I know. It is this : " We will ignore
the tax, it is turned into our tribute." That is no tribute ; it
is not that ye have equahsed to my slanderer* the matter*
of " corban and tax," it is that the payment of tribute ^
lies with yourselves, and failure '' concerning the agreement
is before God. Therefore now I send to you, that by these
words ye may not join yourselves with him. Let me
quickly see the answer to my letter. The bond which I
have made with Bel, the service of IVIergdach — this shall
not be destroyed by my hands.
Month lyyar, 23d day, eponymy of Assur-dura-utsur.
Samas-baladh'su-iqbi has brought it.*
^ Literally " The sons of Assyria. " ^ "Ye (are) with my heart."
' Literally "which has been made before me."
* Literally " lord of slander. " ^ Literally "name."
* Literally " the making of the tribute. " ' Or, "a sin."
* The following is a transcription of the original text t ' ' Abat sarri ana
Babilaa. Salimu aasi libba-kunu ; Id-dhabu kunusi. Dibbi sa sari salasis
agi idbubakkunusi, gabbu ittibbflni alteme-sunu. Saru la takipa-su. Ina
lib Assur, Marduk, ilania attama ki dibbi bi'siite mala ina mukhkhia
idbubu, ina libbla kutstsupaku, ft ina pia aqbli. Alia niklu sfi, ittikil
umma sumu sa Btoilaa raimani-su ittia lu-bais, d anaku ul asimme-si.
Akhut-kunu sa itti m^rani mat Assur u kitinnuta-kunu, sa aktsuru, addi.
Eli sa enna sH — itti libbla attunu. Abbittimma sarate-su la tasimma. Sun-
kunu, sa ina pania u ina pan matati gabbu band, la tuba'asa, fl ranian-
kunu ina pan ill la tukhadhdh^. U sazatu amat sa itti libbi-kunu
kutstsupakunu, anaku idi, umma enna : Assa nittekirus, ana bilti-ni itara.
RECORDS OF THE PAST
There are several similar proclamations to this,
but probably none of them are in such a perfect state
of preservation, though most of them are more in-
teresting, because they give more precise historical
indications by mentioning the names of the persons
to whom they refer.
The text itself contains several interesting lin-
guistic peculiarities. In addition to the expressions
already noted, the following may prove to be of
interest to the student : raimani-su, " his own," for
ramani-su — probably pointing to a peculiarity of
pronunciation ; ^ sun-kimu for sumkumi, " your name "
(change of m into ii before k — not uncommon in
Assyrian) ; kutsistifaktmu for kutstsupatunu, " ye are
treasuring up " — a most important variant form ; the
interesting phrases j/dnu sii ki . . . " it is not that
. . . ", and s^ kt . . . " it is that . . . " ; and the use
of the demonstratives dgd and Aganute.
It is noteworthy, also, that in two passages the
king speaks of God (Ilu), not of " the gods " («J
raman-kunu, ina pan Hi la tukhadhdha, " and commit
not, yourselves, a sin before God ; " u khadhdhu ina
lib ade ina paii Hi, " and a sin concerning the agree-
ment is before God "), as if, at the time he was writing
Ul biltu si. Y^nu sfi kl sumu kurbanu u assa itti bel-dababia tatasizza ;
s(i kl sakan bilte ina eli rameni-kunu u khadhdhft ina lib adfi ina pan ili.
Enna add altaprakkunusi, kl ina dibbi aganute itti-su raman-kunu la tuda-
nipa. Khandhis gabri sipirtla lumur. Kitsru sa ana Bfl aktsur, sikipti
Marduk — ag4 ina qata-ya la ikhibbil.
" Arkhu Aaru, umu esrH-salsu, limmu Assur-dfira-utsur. Samas-
baladh'su-iqbi ittubil."
^ In other passages of the text where the word occurs, it has the regular
forms, ramaii kunu and rameni-kunu, "yourselves." The latter is an
oblique case with vowel harmony.
ASSYRIAN CORRESPONDENCE 189
these words, the One-God idea was uppermost in his
mind. This was, probably, the result of a feeling
inherited from the time when monotheism, more or
less pure, was the possession of the Semitic race, or
at least that portion of it to which the Semitic Baby-
lonians or Assyrians and the Israelites belonged.^
The text is published in the 4th vol. of the Cunei-
form Inscriptions of Western Asia, plate 52 of the old
edition, plate 47 of the new. The colophon, accom-
panied by a translation, was published by G. Smith
in his History of Assurbanipal, p. 181. The date of
this interesting document is about 650 B.C.
^ This question, which admits of a much fuller treatment and discus-
sion than can be given to it here, is intimately bound up with the original
significance and use of the divine names Jah and Jahveh (Jehovah).
AKKADIAN HYMN TO THE SETTING
SUN
Translated by G. Bertin.
The following hymn is interesting because it appears
to have formed part of the Babylonian ritual. In
each temple, at certain hours of the day and night,
priests devoted to this office had to recite certain
prayers or incantations. We possess in the British
Museum (Table case A, Nos. 4 and 4a) two copies of
this hymn. The first one is no doubt the temple copy,
and the colophon gives the time at which it is to be
repeated by the priest. The other tablet is what
might be called an ex-voto copy. When ill, the Baby-
lonians, as the Christians of the middle ages, made
certain promises to the gods in case of recovery ; the
fulfilment of the vow was generally a tablet which was
to be placed in the temple. The same custom pre-
vailed also in Greece, but in Babylonia, literature being
the most highly-prized branch of the Fine Arts, the
ex-voto was as a rule the copy of an old tablet.
This hymn appears to have been composed in
Akkadian, the religious language of Babylon, but
is given with an interlinear translation in Assyro-
HYMN TO THE SETTING SUN 191
Babylonian ; the translation sometimes offers slight
divergences from the original text, which have been
noticed in the notes.
A point to be observed is that the moon, who was
generally considered as a male god, is here regarded
as a goddess consort of the Sun-god. In the ex-voto
copy she is called the sister of the Sun. We might
conclude from this variant that the Moon, in the
Babylonian as in the Egyptian mythology, was sister
and wife of the Sun.
Throughout the hymn there seems to be a certain
Semitic or Hamitic rather than Akkadian under-
current of thought.
Both copies are written in the later Babylonian
style of writing, and date probably from the reign of
Nebuchadnezzar the Great. The text has been pub-
lished, with a French translation and notes by myself,
in the Revue d'Assyriologie, vol. i. part iv.
HYMN TO THE SETTING SUN
O Sun, in the middle of the sky, at thy setting,
may the bright gates welcome thee favourably,^
may the door of heaven be docile to thee.
May the god director,^ thy faithful messenger, mark the way!
In E-BARA,^ seat of thy royalty, he makes thy greatness
shine forth.
May the Moon, thy beloved spouse,* come to meet thee
with joy.^
May thy heart rest in peace.
May the glory of thy godhead remain with thee.
Powerful hero, O Sun ! shine gloriously.^
Lord of E-BARA, direct in thy road thy foot rightly.
O Sun, in making thy way, take the path marked for thy
rays !
Thou art the lord of judgments over all nations.
Colophon of the Temple Copy
This is the hymn to the setting sun, the incantator ' says
it after the beginning of the night.
1 The Assyrian version has " speali of peace to thee."
' This is the god who wallied in front of the Sun, the forerunner.
3 E-bara is the name of the temple of the Sun-god.
* One of the two copies says "thy beloved sister; ' the Moon was
considered sometimes as wife, sometimes as sister of the Sun, as perhaps
being both.
" The Assyrian has " go in front of thee."
^ The Assyrian has " glorify thyself"
' This is the name of a class of priests, whose functions were to repeat
certain prayers or incantations at certain hoiu'S.
HYMN TO THE SETTING SUN 193
First line of the next Tablet.
O Sun, rising in the shining sky. ^
Tablet which Nabu-damik, son of ... . has copied and
translated from the old copy.
Colophon of the Ex-voto Copy.
Nabu-balatsu-ikbi, son of E-sagilian, for the preservation
of his life has had this tablet written for Nebo, his lord, by
Nabu-epis-akhi, son of E-sagilian, and placed it in the temple
E-ZIDA.
^ When tablets formed a series, each one always gave at the end the
first line of the next tablet of the series. In this case the line is important,
because, as the hymn to the setting sun is given iirst, it shows that the
Babylonians, like the Jews, placed the night first.
VOL. II O
THE MOABITE STONE
Translated by Dr. A. Neubauer
The Moabite stone was discovered by the Rev.
F. Klein, on the site of Dibon (now Dhiban), on the
19th of August 1868. When on his way to the
Bekka his attention was drawn by a friendly sheikh
to a black basalt stone in the vicinity of his tent.
This stone, about 3 ft. 10 in. high, 2 ft. in breadth, and
14I in. in thickness, and rounded both at the top and
the bottom to nearly the shape of a semicircle, con-
tained an inscription on one side consisting of thirty-
four lines. The discoverer, although he did not
immediately recognise the importance of his find, had
good sense enough to try to acquire it for the museum
at Berlin. As soon as the natives learned that the
infidels were in search of the monument, they began
to interest all persons they could get hold of in it.
Captain Warren (of the Palestine Exploration Fund)
was informed of its existence some weeks after Klein's
discovery, but knowing that the Berlin Museum was
already concerned in the matter, he took no steps
towards its acquisition till 1869. However, whilst
the negotiations of the Prussian Government were
THE MOABITE STONE 195
making only slow progress, everything in the East
moving but slowly, M. Clermont-Ganneau, then drago-
man of the French Consulate in Jerusalem, wisely
took at once the necessary steps for procuring squeezes
and copies of the inscription, and finally endeavoured
to buy the monument itself. Fortunately he was
successful in his attempt to obtain a squeeze of the
inscription while the stone was still in its entirety, for
it soon became too late. After the Turkish authori-
ties had begun to interfere, the Bedouins of the
country of Dhiban, rather than give up the monu-
ment for the benefit of the Pasha and Mddir, broke
the stone by first making a fire under it, and then
pouring cold water on it, and subsequently distributed
the pieces among themselves to be used as amulets
and charms. Thus, through the zeal of those who
acted in the name of two European countries, one of
the earliest Semitic monuments written in alphabetical
characters was irretrievably ruined.
For a detailed history of the vicissitudes under-
gone by the stone, I must refer to Dr. Ginsburg's
second edition of his work on the Moabite inscription,
and to M. H^ron de Villefosse's notice (see full
title below, p. 196), who does not, however, even
mention the name of Klein. Happily more than half
of the inscription remained intact, and M. Clermont-
Ganneau's squeezes and copies supply in large
measure the lacunae in the text, as may be seen from
an inspection of the original monument, which now
adorns the museum of the Louvre. It stands there
196 RECORDS OF THE PAST
in its original shape, the lacunse being suppHed from
the squeezes and copies. And from this monument,
as reproduced in 1886 by Professors Rudolf Smend
and Albert Socin, I shall give the translation which
follows.
It would be superfluous to mention in detail all
the literature that bears upon the stone. The reader
will find it given up to. 1875 in M. Heron de Ville-
fosse's monograph under the title of Notice des
monuments frovenant de la Palestine, Paris, 1876,
arranged according to the countries to which the
authors belong. It is seldom that such a number
of names can be found contributing to a subject of
Oriental study, as was the case with the Moabite
inscription. I shall mention them in alphabetical
order, the names being taken from M. H^ron de
Villefosse's work. They are — Auerbach (J.) ; Bal-
lagi; Beke (D.) ; Bensly ; Bonelly ; Burton (A. F.
and Ch.) ; *Clermont-Ganneau ; Colenso (Bishop) ;
Derenbourg (J.) ; Deutsch (E.) ; Fabiani ; Geiger
(A.) ; *Ginsburg (Ch. D.) ; Goldziher ; Grove (G.) ;
Hal^vy (Abraham) ; Harkavy ; Haug ; Hayes Ward ;
*Heron de Villefosse ; Himpel ; *Hitzig ; Howard
Crosby ; Jenkins (G.) ; *Kaempf ; Levi (M.A.) ;
Merx ; Neubauer (A.) ; *Noeldeke ; Oppert (J.) ;
Palmer (E. H.) ; Petermann ; Rawlinson (G. and Sir
H.) ; Kenan ; Roug6 (Vicomte de) ; Sabatier ; Sachs
(S.) ; *Schlottmann ; Schrader (E.) ; Schroeder ;
Smend ; Socin ; Testa ; *Vogu^ (Comte de) ; Warren
(Sir Ch.) ; Weier ; Wright (W.). The names to which
THE MOABITE STONE 197
an asterisk is prefixed are those of authors who have
published separate works on the subject ; the contri-
butions of the others are scattered through periodicals
and daily and weekly papers, in many languages,
viz., English, French, Italian, German, Hebrew, and
Greek (Schroeder). I shall not supply here the titles
of the periodicals nor of the separate monographs;
this I hope will be done either by M. Clermont-
Ganneau when he gives us his final commentary on
the inscription, or in a second edition of the pamphlet
published by Professors Smend and Socin.
Our bibliographical list will not be complete
without a notice of the Rev. A. Lowy's article on
" The apocryphal character of the Moabite Stone " in
the Scottish Review for April 1887. Mr. Lowy's
article was ingenious, but, as was pointed out in the
Athencsum, AcadeTiiy, and Guardian, was destitute of
palaeographical support, and his conclusions have not
been accepted by any other Semitic scholar.
M. Clermont-Ganneau promised as far back as
1875 a final publication of this important inscription
according to all the materials at his disposal. But of
this edition nothing exists except a bookseller's adver-
tisement. In a catalogue of M. Ernest Leroux, 1878,
M. Clermont-Ganneau's final publication was an-
nounced under the following title : — " La stele de
Mdsa, roi de Moab (ix^ siecle avant J. C). Edi-
tion definitive, avec les photographies du monument
et de I'estampage, le plan du pays ou la st^le fut
decouverte, plusieurs planches d'inscriptions, fac-
igS RECORDS OF THE PAST
simile, vignette, etc. (sous presse), 20 fr." Up to the
present date nothing more has been heard of this
authoritative edition.
In 1885 two German professors, Dr. Rudolf
Smend of Bale and Dr. Albert Socin of Tubingen,
seeing that the long-expected edition of M. Clermont-
Ganneau had been postponed indefinitely, and feeling
the necessity of such an edition for the purposes of
instruction in the university, decided to make one
with the help of the original in the Louvre, and
of the squeeze made by the Arab for M. Clermont-
Ganneau, as well as of another squeeze in the library
of Bale. The edition, which is the result of hard,
minute, and skilful labour on the part of the two
professors, is now the final and authoritative edition
of the inscription, although contested on many points
by M. Clermont-Ganneau in an article (not always
impartially written) in the Journal Asiatique for 1887,
t6me ix. p. 72 sqq., and by M. Renan in the Journal
des Sava7its, 1887. In my translation I shall notice
the differences between M. Clermont-Ganneau's read-
ings and those of the two professors, adding a few
remarks of my own.
Let me say at once that the last four lines of the
inscription are hopelessly inexplicable owing to the
lacunae found in them.
The object of the inscription is to commemorate
the victory of Mesha over his Israelitish enemy.
Chemosh was once angry with Moab and caused
them to lose territory and even to be conquered by
THE MOABITE STONE 199
Israel. Chemosh then showed favour to his nation
and Moab was victorious. The Moabites not only-
recaptured the towns they had lost, but added others
to them which they took from Israel. Mesha cap-
tured the priests (?) of the god or goddess Dodo and
Jahweh, and hewed them in pieces before Chemosh,
just as Samuel hewed Agag before Jahweh. Mesha
took great pains to construct cisterns in some of the
towns belonging to Moab. The Moabite dialect is
tinged with non-biblical words and forms, but the
construction remains biblical. The characters are
Phoenician, and form a link between those of the
Baal Lebanon inscription (of the tenth century B.C.),
and those of the Siloam text.
THE MOABITE STONE
1. I, Mesha son of Chemosh-melech ^ King of Moab
the Di-
2. BONiTE.^ My father reigned pver Moab thirty years ^
and I reig-
3. ned after my father. I made this monument to
Chemosh at KoRKHAH.* A monument of Sal-
4. vation, for he saved me from all invaders,^ and let me
see my desire upon all my enemies. Omr-
5. i [was] King of Israel, and he oppressed Moab many
days, for Chemosh was angry with his
6. land. His son followed him, and he also said : I shall
oppress Moab. In my days Chemosh '' said,
7. I will see my desire on him and his house. And
Israel surely perished for ever. Omri took the
land ' of
^ The letter m is doubtful according to M. Clermont-Ganneau, but no
other is possible. Chemosh - melech is a compound analogous to Eli-
melech.
^ Dibon is said to have been built by Gad (Numb, xxxii. 34).
^ Probably a round number like 40 in 1. 8.
' Most likely a district of Dibon, perhaps alluded to in Isaiah xv. ii.
^ Smend-Socin read p?Dn "the Kings," which would presuppose an
allied force, of which there is no further question in the inscription, nor
does the Bible mention that Mesha was assisted in his revolt by allies.
The D is according to M. Clermont-Ganneau doubtful. The following
restorations are possible: ist, p^tJTI "freebooters." Comp. ^ptJ" Lev.
xi. 18, A.V. "pelican," or identical with inl'tJ'n, "swordsmen." 2d,
pbnn " the misfortunes " or "misery," Comp. Ps. x. 8.
" The reading "IDIO by S.S. is not idiomatic ; -ntS would do better.
According to M. C. -G. there seems to be the trace of a D following the 3.
I propose therefore the word [K'D] 3.
' According to M. C.-G. : S.S. read "all the land ; " of the word all
there Is no trace in the inscription.
THE MOABITE STONE
8. Medeba,! and [Israel] dwelt in it during his days and
half of the days of his son, altogether forty years.^
But there dwelt in it ^
9. Chemosh in my days. I built Baal-meon * and made
therein the ditches : ^ I built
I o. KiRjATHAiN : ^ the men of Gad dwelled in the land
of Ataroth'^ from of old, and built there the King of
11. Israel Ataroth ; and I made war against the town
and seized it. And I slew all the [people of]
12. the town, for the pleasure of Chemosh and Moab : I
captured from there the Arel^ of Doda'* and
tore
13. him before Chemosh in Kerioth : 1" And I placed
therein the men of Srn '^'^ and the men
^ A city in Reuben (Numbers xxi. 30) ; later belonging to Moab
(Isaiah xv. 2).
- A round number, nearer to 40 than to 30.
' S. S. translate : ' ' and Chemosh gave it back ; " n3 [3^*] '^\ gives a
better sense. Comp. line 33.
^ Also Beth-baal-meon, a city in Reuben, Josh. xiii. 17.
^ niEfN is perhaps an Arabic plural form of nHlti'.
^ Kirjathaim, a city in Reuben (Numb, xxxii. 37).
' A city in Gad (Numb, xxxii. 3).
^ Arel or Ariel in 2 Sam. xxiii. 20 means no doubt heroes where the
A.V. has "he slew two lionlike men of Moab;" and the R.V., "he
slew the two sons of Ariel of Moab." Perhaps it was a dialectic word
peculiar to the trans- Jordanic country ; we find a son of Gad with the
name of Areli (Gen. xlvi. 16 ; Numb. xxvi. 17). It is used also in
Isaiah xxxiii. 7, A.V. and R.V., " their valiant ones" (the Hebrew being
Erelam, perhaps better .£?-«&«, " valiant ones," parallel to the following
expression, "the messengers of peace," or "messengers of Shalem,"
i.e. Jerusalem). Possibly the word iTilK (Isaiah x-v. 9; LXX. koX
'kpLT]K ; A.V. "lions upon him ; " R.V. "a hon upon him" — Isaiah xxi.
8; LXX. Qiipiav ; A.V. "And he cried, A lion;" R.V. "and he cried
as a lion;" better "the hero "or "watchman called out") should be
read Aryah, a compound of Ar and yah, analogous to Ar-el. And so
perhaps in 2 Sam. xxiii. 20. Ariel is also the name of the stronghold
(Zion) of David (Isaiah xxix. l, 2), and later of a part ( ? the Holy of
Holies) of the Temple (Ezekiel xUii. 15, 16 ; LXX. dpi7;\ ; A.V. and R.V.
altar).
' Or Dodo, perhaps connected with the Carthaginian Dido. The
persons named Dodo in the Bible are usually heroes (2 Sam. .xxiii. 9, 24) ;
thus we have Dodavahu (2 Chr. xx. 37) and Dodai (i Chr. xxvii. 4), where
Dodo is compounded with Yahu. In our inscription Dodo is parallel with
Yahveh (hne 17).
w A city in Moab (Jer. xlviii. 24 ; Amos ii. 2).
11 Perhaps to be pronounced Sharon.
RECORDS OF THE PAST
14. of Mkhrth.i And Chemosh said to me, Go seize
Need ^ upon Israel : and
15. I went in the night and fought against it from the
break of dawn till noon : and I took
16. it, and slew all, 7000 men, [boys?],^ women, [girls],^
17. and female slaves, for to Ashtar-Chemosh * I devoted
them. And I took from it the Areh ^ of Jahveh
and tore them before Chemosh. And the King of
Israel built
18. Jahaz,^ and dwelt in it, whilst he waged war against
me ; Chemosh drove him out before me. And
19. I took from Moab 200 men, all chiefs, and transported
them to Jahaz, which I took
20. to add to it Dibon. I built Korkhah, the wall of
the forests and the wall
21. of the citadel : I built its gates and I built its towers.
And
22. I built the house of Moloch, and I made sluices of
the water ditches ^ in the middle
23. of the town. And there was no cistern in the middle
of the town of Korkhah, and I said to all the people.
Make for
24. yourselves every man a cistern in his house. And I
dug the canals^ for Korkhah by means of the
prisoners
25. of Israel. I built Aroer^ and I made the road in
[the province of] the Arnon.i" [And]
' Perhaps Me-Hereth ; comp. in i Sam. xxii. 5, the name of a forest
in Moab and the prefix Me in Me-deba (Numb. xxi. 30).
^ Most probably a city near Mount Nebo in Moab.
2 M. Clermont-Ganneau contests the reading of Smend and Socin.
In his restoration only [ID and mD could give a sense, viz. " Men and
masters, women, mistresses" (where JTID would have to be derived from
the form ITID).
* The male divinity of Ashtoreth, which is to be found in Himyaritic
inscriptions, compounded with Chemosh.
s The parallelism of line 12 requires ''7N1N here. M. Clermont-
Ganneau makes too many objections to this reading here and elsewhere.
8 City in Moab (Isaiah xv. 4). ' See above, line 9.
8 Literally " the cuttings." " City in Moab (Deut. ii. 36).
'» A torrent in Moab (Numb. xxi. 13 sqq.)
THE MOABITE STONE 203
26. I built Beth-Bamoth/ for it was destroyed. I built
Bezer,2 for in ruins
27. [it was. And all the chiefs]^ of Dibon were 50, for
all Dibon is subject ; and I placed *
2 8. one hundred [chiefs] ^ in the towns which I added to
the land : I built
29. Beth-Medeba "^ and Beth-Diblathain ^ and Beth-
BAAL-MEON ^ and transported thereto the [shep-
herds (?)...
30. and the pastors]* of the flocks of the land. And
at HoRONAiM 1" dwelt there ^^ . . .
31. . . . And Chemosh said to me, Go down, make war
upon HORONAIM. I went down [and made war]
32. . . . And Chemosh dwelt ^^ in it during my days. I
went up from thence , . .
33. . . . And I . . .
^ Most likely Bamoth (Numb. xxi. 19 and Isaiah xv. •^, where the
right reading is perhaps ^33? p''ni 010311 TfZ. TwV) Perhaps identical
with Bamoth Baal (Joshua xiii. 17). ,
2 City in Reuben (Deut. iv. 43). ^ i supply ^S^ '731 KH].
^ TiN^D. = nsD [tyi].
* City in Reuben (Numb. xxi. 30), afterwards belonging to Moab
(Isaiah XV. 2). I read S<21'D TO. for N3mD nD of Smend and Socin.
' Beth-Diblathaim, a city in Moab (Jer. xlviii. 22).
' A town of Reuben, later belonging to Moab (Josh. xiii. 17 ; Jer.
xlviii. 23). » lj;-l . . .
1° A city in Moab (Isaiah xv. 5; Jer. xlviii. 3, 5, 34).
'1 The reading of Smend and Socin is here too doubtful.
^^ See the same expression in line 8.
TABLE OF THE EGYPTIAN DYNASTIES
III
Dynasty.
Capital.
Modern Name.
PI
En.a
The Old Empire.
B.C.
B.C.
I.
Thinite
This
Girgeh
5004
5650
II.
Thinite
This
Girgeh
4751
5400
III.
Memphite
Memphis
Mitrahenny
4449
5100
IV.
Memphite
Memphis
Mitrahenny
4235
487s
V.
Memphite
Memphis
Miirahenny
3951
4600
VI.
Elephantine
Elephantine
Geziret-Assotmn
3703
445°
VII.
Memphite
Memphis
Mitrahenny
3500
4250
VIII.
Memphite
Memphis
Mitrahenny
3500
4250
IX.
Herakleopolite
Herakleopolis
Ahnas el-Med-
tneh
Ahnas el-Med-
tneh
Luxor, etc.
3358
4100
X.
Herakleopolite
Herakleopolis
3249
3700
XI.
Diospolitan
Thebes
3064
3510
T
HE Middle E^
IPIRE.
XII.
Diospolitan
Thebes
Luxor, etc.
2851
3450
XIII.
Diospolitan
Thebes
Luxor, etc.
, ,
3250
XIV.
Xoite
Xois
Sakha
2398
2800
T
HE Shepherd
Kings.
XV.
Ilyksos
Tanis (Zoan)
San
2214
2325
XVI.
Hyksos
Diospolitan
Tanis
San
2050
Thebes
Luxor, etc.
XVII.
' Hyksos
Diospolitan
Tanis
San
1800
Thebes
Luxor, etc.
The New Emi
IRE.
XVIII.
Diospolitan
Thebes
L.uxor, etc.
170D
1750
XIX.
Diospolitan
Thebes
Luxor, etc.
1400
1490
XX.
Diospolitan
Thebes
Luxor, etc.
1200
1280
XXI.
Tanite
Tanis
San
IIOO
IIOO
XXII.
Bubastite
Bubastis
Tel Bast
966
975
XXIII.
Tanite
Tanis
San
766
810
XXIV.
Saite
Sais
Sa el-Hagar
733
720
XXV.
Ethiopian
Napata
Mount Barkal
700
715
XXVI.
Saite
Sais
Sa el-Hagar
666
664
XXVII.
Persian
Persepolis
527
525
XXVIII.
Saite
Sais
Sa el-Hagar
415
XXIX.
Mendesian
Mendes
Eshmun er-
Rom&n
399
408
XXX.
Sebennyte
Sebennytos
Seinenhiid
378
387
LIST OF KINGS OF ASSYRIA
Sargon asserts that he was preceded by 330 Assyrian kings.
High-Priests of the god Assur at Assur (Kaleh
Sherghat) : —
B.C.
Isme-Dagon ..... cir. 1850
Samsi-Rimmon I his son . . . . 1820
Igur-kapkapu . . .
Samsi-Rimmon II his son (builder of the temple
of Assur) . . . .
Khallu ...
Irisum his son
Kings of Assyria : —
Bel-kapkapu " the founder of the monarchy " ^
Ada'si ......•■ —
1 In W. A. I. i. 35- 3. 24-26, we must read Bel-kapkapi sarru pani
alik makhri qudmu sarruii sa ana tsulili-sa ultu uUd Assur ibMi 'sima-
su, " Bel-kapkapu a former king who went before me, the founder of the
monarchy, for whose protection Assur had from remote times proclaimed
his destiny." There is no mention of a king TsuUli.
206 RECORDS OF THE PAST
B.C.
Bel-Bani his son . . —
Assur-suma-esir .....
Uras-tuklat-Assuri his son (contemporary of Mur-
gas-'Sipak of Babylonia) ....
Erba-Rimmon
Assur-nadin-akhi his son
Assur-bil-nisi-su (contemporary of Kara-indas of
Babylonia) .......
Buzur-Assur (contemporary of Burna-buryas of
Babylonia) ......
Assur-yuballidh ^ ..... ,
Bel-nirari his son ......
Pudilu his son ......
Rimmon-nirari I his son (contemporary of Nazi-
Urus of Babylonia) .....
Shalmaneser I his son (the founder of Calah)
Tiglath-Uras I his son ^ .
cir.
143°
1400
1380
1360
1340
1320
1300
^ According to the ' ' Synchronistic Tablet ' ' Buzur-Assur was a con-
temporary of Burna-buryas of Babylonia, and since two of the royal cor-
respondents of Amenophis IV Khu-en-Aten of Egypt, as we learn from
the newly-discovered cuneiform tablets of Tel el-Amarna, were Assur-
yuballidh of Assyria and Burna-buryas of Babylonia, it is probable that
Assur-yuballidh was the successor of Buzur-Assur. According to the
"Synchronistic Tablet" Assur-yuballidh's daughter Muballidhat-Serfla
was the mother of Kara-Urus, king of Babylonia, who was murdered and
succeeded by an usurper Nazi-bugas. Nazi-bugas himself had to make
way for Kur-galzu " the younger," the son of Burna-buryas.
^ A seal belonging to Tiglath-Uras was carried to Babylon B.C. 1290
and recovered by Sennacherib 600 years later. Unfortunately we do not
know whether the seal was carried away during the lifetime of Tiglath-
Uras or after his death. In any case his date must be earlier than B.C.
1290.
LIST OF KINGS OF ASSYRIA
207
Assur-narara .
Nebo-dan his son ^
B.C.
cir. 1250
1230
Bel-kudurra-utsur .
Uras-pileser .
Assur-dan I his son ^
Mutaggil-Nebo his son
Assur-ris-isi his son ^
Tiglath-pileser I his son *
Assur-bil-kala his son
Samsi-Rimmon I his brother
1210
1190
1170
1150
1130
mo
1090
1070
Assur-rab-buri
Tiglath-pileser II .
Assur-dan II his son
Rimmon-nirari II his son
Tiglath-Uras II his son .
Assur-natsir-pal his son ....
Shalmaneser II his son ....
Assur-dain-pal his son (rebel king)
Samsi-Rimmon II his brother .
Rimmon-nirari III his son
Shalmaneser III ....
Assur-dan III ...
Assur-nirari ......
Tiglath-pileser III Pulu (Pul, Poros) usurper
Shalmaneser IV Ulula usurper .
Sargon (? Jareb) usurper ....
95°
930
B.C. 911
889
883
858
825
823
810
781
771
753
745
727
722
1 These two kings were contemporaries of the Babylonian king Rimmon-
suma-natsir, for whom cf Records of the Past, new Ser., i. p. 16, no. 24.
2 A contemporary of the Babylonian kingZamama-nadin-sumi, Records,
new Ser., i. P- 16, no. 27. , ^, ,_ , ,
3 A contemporary of the Babylonian kmg Nebo-kudurra-utsur.
* Defeated by Merodach-nadin-akhi of Babylonia in B.C. 1106 accord-
ing to Sennacherib ; see Records, new Ser., i. p. 87.
208
RECORDS OF THE PAST
Sennacherib his son
Esar-haddon I his son
Assur-bani-pal (Sardanapallos) his son
Assur-etil-ilani-yukinni his son ^
Sin-sarra-iskun ... . .
Esar-haddon II (Sarakos)
Destruction of Nineveh .....
' He was still reigning over Babylonia in his 4th year.
B.C.
681
668
648?
?
?
606
EGYPTIAN CALENDAR
Months,
Thoth
Paophi
Athyr
Khoiak
Tybi
Mekhir
Phamenoth
Pharmuthi
Pakhons
Payni
Epeiphi
Mesore
The EpagomenEE
Sacred
Year begins
July 20
August I 9
September 18
October 18
November 1 7
December 1 7
January 16
February 15
March 17
April 16
May 16
June 15
Alexandrine '
Year begins
August 29
September 28
October 28
November 27
December 27
January 26
February 25
March 27
April 26
May 26
June 25
July 25
August 24-28
The Alexandrine year began B. c. 25.
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1515 Persian morocco, yapped, leather-lined, silk sewn, round corner-s, gilt
edges, elastic band 26/-
1521 Turkey morocco, limp, round corners, red under gilt edges, gilt roll . . 30/-
1530 Turkey-Levant, yapped, leather-lined, round corners, gilt edges, silk sewn,
elastic band 37/6
1535 Levant morocco, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, red under gilt edges, silk
sewn, elastic band 45/~
extra, i/-
ffiaggter's jfacsimile Series of
REFERENCE BIBLES
With an Appendix of about TS pages of valuable Aids.
PEAEL
16mo. " REFERENCES.
(5i X 3l X I inches.)
fJoSt covenant with NoaK
10 Aud''with every livingcreature that
it with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and
of every beaat of the earth with you ; from
all that go out of the ark, to every Least
of the earth.
11 And I will establish my covenant
with you; neither Bhall all flesh be t.'Ut
off auy more by the waters of a flood ;
B. C. 2348
GENESIS. X The ffen^ationt of yoah
5 By these were the isles b of the Geo-
tiles divided in their lands ; every one
aft«r hia tongue, after their families, la
their nations.
6 ^ And the sons of Ham ; Cuah, aiid
Mlziitim, and Pliut, and Canaan.
7 And the sons of Cuah ; Seba, o auj
Haviliih, and &abt<ih, and Itoauiah. aiid
a oh. S. 1.
Pb. 145 9.
b Jo. 2. 10
Zep. 2. 11.
e Pi. 7i 10.
d 2 Pet. 3.7.
3/-
4/-
Thick or Thin Editions.
100 French seal, limp, round corners, gilt edges .... , .
102 French seal, yapped, round corners, gilt edges, elastic band ....
lis Persian morocco, yapped, leather-lined, silk sewn, round comers, band, gilt
edges 7/-
121 Turkey morocco, limp, round comers,red under gilt edges, gilt roll . . 7/6
130 Turkey-Levant, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, band, gilt edges, silk sewn 12/'-
135 Levant morocco, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, red under gilt edges, silk
sewn, elastic band ........... 15/-
140 Best Levant morocco, yapped, limp, kid-lined with indiarubber, the
"Bagster Binding," edges red under gilt in the round, silk sewn, band . 22/6
Extra: with Scotch Psalms, -/4; with Concordance, 1/6; with Prayer Book, 1/6
Special Thin Edition on India Paper, weight 8i ounces, Bible
only, with References and Maps, no Appendix, kept
in styles 130**, 140**, prices as above.
RUBY FOOLSCAP OCTAVO. "REFERENCES.
GoiTt covenant vnVi Koah,
(6| X 4 X J inches.)
X.
10 And" with every livinf? creature
that t« with you, of tlio lowl, or the cattle,
and of every boast of tlie earth with you;
from all that go out of the urix, to every
beast of the earth:
11 And I will establish iny covenant
with you ; neither shall all llesli bo cut
The tjmerationa ofS'oalL
5 By these were the isles 6 of the Gen-
tiles divided in their l.inda ; every oub
after hia tongue, altsT their families, in
their nations.
a And the sons of Ham ; Cusb, and
Mizraim, and Fhut, and Canaan.
7 And the sons ol Gush; Seba,* and Hap
200 French seal, limp, round corners, gilt edges
202 French seal, yapped, round corners, gilt edges, elastic band .
21$ Persian morocco, yapped, leather-lined, silk sewn, round corners, gilt edges.band
221 Turkey morocco, limp, round corners, red under gilt edges, gilt roll
223 Turkey morocco, circuit, red under gilt edges
230 Turkey-Levant, yapped, calf-lined, round comers, gilt edges, silk sewn, band
235 Levant morocco, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, r/g, silk sewn, band .
240 Best Levant morocco, yapped, limp, kid-lined with indiarubber, the
" Bagster Binding," edges red under gilt in the round, silk sewn, band .
4/-
5/6
9-
10/-
n/6
25/-
Extra : with Scotch Psalms, -/6 ; with Prayer Book, 2/6; with Apocrypha, 2/6; with
Concordance, 2/6 ; with Greek Testament ( Textus Receptus) interpaged, S/-
Bagster Bibles.
NONPAREIL CROWN OCTAVO.
(7i X 5 X I inches.)
REFERENCES."
God:s covenant with Noah
10 And 1 with every living creature that
is with you, ot the fowl, o( the cattle, and
el every beast of the earth with you ; from
all that go out o£ the ark, to every beast
o£ the earth :
11 And I will establish my covenant
with you ; neither shall all flesh be cut
off any more by the waters of a flood ;
neither shall there any more be a<* flood
to destroy the earth.
12 And God said, This is the tolcen of
GENESIS, 10. The generations of Ifoah.
5 By these were the isles !> of tht Gen-
tiles divided in their lands; every one
after his tongue, after their famiUes, in
their nations.
6 And the sons of Ham ; Cush, and
Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
7 And the sons of Cush ; Seba,e and Havi-
lah, and Sabtah, and Haamah, and Sabte-
chah ; and the sons of Eaamah ; Sheba and
Dedan.
8 And Cush begat Nimrod :« he began to
B.C. 2.148.
a P8. 145. 9.
6 Zep. 2. 11.
c Ts. 72. 10.
d 2 Pe. 3. 7.
e Mi. 5. 6.
/ Mi. 7. 2.
g ch. 17. n.
ft Eze. 1. 28.
Re. 4. 3.
V Gr. Baby-
Ion,
300 French seal, limp, round corners, gilt edges ...... 61-
302 French seal, yapped, round corners, gilt edges, elastic band .... 7/6
315 Persianmorocco, yapped, leather-lined, silk sewn, round corners, gilt edges, band 10/6
321 Turkey morocco, limp, round corners, red under gilt edges, gilt roll . . 13/6
330 Turkey- Levant, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, gilt edges, silk sewn, band 18/6
335 Levant morocco, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, red under gilt edges, silk
sewn, band . . . 22/6
340 Best Levant morocco, yapped, limp, kid-lined with indiarubber, the
"Bagster Binding," red under gilt in the round ..... 27/6
INDIA PAPER EDITION.
302* French seal, yapped, round corners, gilt edges, elastic band . . ,11/-
315* Persian morocco, yapped, leather-lined, silk sewn, gilt edges . 15/-
321* Turkey morocco, limp, round corners, red under gilt edges, gilt roll . l6/6
330* Turkey-Levant, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, gilt edges . . 22/6
335* Levant morocco, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, red under gilt edges, silk
sewn, band . . . . 27/6
340* Best Levant morocco, yapped, limp, kid-lined with indiarubber, the
" Bagster Binding," red edges under gilt in the round .... 34/-
With Scotch Psalms, extra, -/8 ; with Concordance, extra, 2/6
Special Thin Edition on India Paper, Bible only, with References
and Maps, no Appendix, kept in styles 330**,
340**, prices as above.
Bagster's Bible Catalogue.
EMERALD OCTAVO.
REFERENCES."
tx si X I inches.)
OoXs covenant with Noah,
GENESIS. X.
The generations of Noah,
10 And" with every living creature
ihut is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle,
and of every beast of the earth with you j
from all that go out of the ark, to every
beast of the earth :
11 And I will establish my covenant
with you; neither shall all flesh be cut
off any more by the waters of a ilood;
neither shall there any more be a'' Hood
to destroy the earth.
12 And God said. This is the token' of
B. C. 23«.
' chap, 8. 1.
Pa. 145. 9.
ije. 2. 10.
Zep. 2. 11.
cPs.72. 10.
liaPe. 3. 7.
eMi. 5. 6.
/Mi. 7. 3.
» chap. 17. 11,
5 By these were the isles' of the Geii«
tiles divided in their lands; every one
after his tongue, after their families, ia
their nations,
6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and
Hizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
7 And the sons of Cush ; Seba,' and Ha-
vQah,andSabtahjandEa»mah,andSabtechah;
and the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedau.
8 And Cush begat rlimrodi' he began
to be a mighty one in the earth :
400 French seal, limp, round corners, gilt edges 7/6
402 French seal, yapped, round corners, gilt edges, elastic band .... 10/6
409 French seai, yapped, leather-lined, round corners, red under gilt edges . . 11/6
415 Persian morocco, yapped, leather-lined, silk sewn, round corners, gilt edges, band 13/-
421 Turkey morocco, limp, round corners, red under gilt edges, gilt roll . . ij,'-
423 Turkey morocco, circuit, silk sewn, red under gilt edges .... 18/-
430 Turkey-Levant, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, gilt edges, silk sewn, band 21/-
435 Levant morocco, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, red under gilt edges, silk
sewn, band 25/-
440 Best Levant morocco, yapped, limp, kid-lined with indiarubber, the
" Bagster Binding," edges red under gilt in the round, silk sewn, band . 30/-
INDIA PAPER EDITION.
(8ix six J inches.)
402* French seal, yapped, round corners, gilt edges, elastic band . . . 12/6
415* Persian morocco, yapped, leather-lined, silk sewn, round corners, gilt edges,
band 17/6
421* Turkey morocco, limp, .round corners, red under gilt edges, gilt roll . . 18/6
423* Turkey morocco, circuit, silk sewn, red under gilt edges . . . -21/-
430* Turkey-Levant, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, gilt edges, silk sewn, band 24/-
43S* Levant morocco, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, r/g, silk sewn, band . 29/-
440* Best Levant morocco, yapped, limp, kid-lined wiih indiarubber, the
" Bagster Binding," edges red under gilt in the round, silk sewn, band . 37/6
Extra : with Scotch Psalms, l/-; with Prayer Book, 3/- ; with Apocrypha, 3/-;
with Concordance, 3/-
Special Thin Edition on India Paper, Bible only, References and
Maps, no Appendix, kept in styles 430**, 440**,
prices as above.
SAMUEL BAGSTER & SONS, LIMITED, LONDON.
Bagster Bibles.
BOURGEOIS ROYAL OCTAVO. "REFERENCES.
Bible and Atlas. No Appendix.
(10x7 inches.)
GENESIS, 10. The generations of NoaH.
mature tliat is
i, and of every
■'om all that go
f the earth :
.y covenant with
/B cut oflf any more
B.C. 234S.
♦
oPs. 145. 9.
« Ps. 72. 10.
<i2Pe. 3. 7
8 Mi. 6. 6.
tongue, after their families, in their nations.
6 And the sons of Ham ; Cush, and Miz-,
raim, and Phut, and Canaan.
7 And the sons of Cush ; Seba,' and Havilah,
and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah ; and
the sons of Eaamah ; Sheba and Dedan.
1402 French seal, yapped, round corners, gilt edges, elastic band . . 15/-
1415 Persian morocco, yapped, leather-lined, round corners, gilt edges . 18/-
1421 Turkey morocco, limp, round corners, gilt edges .... 22/-
1430 Turkey-Levant morocco, yapped, leather-lined, round corners, gilt edges 27/6
1435 Levant morocco, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, red under gilt edges,
silk sewn, elastic band . • ...... 34/-
1436 Levant morocco, old style, bevelled boards with ties, edges red under gilt,
silk sewn, with Family Register 35/-
1437 Levant morocco, antique, richly tooled sides, back and edges red under gilt,
silk sewn, with Family Register 42/-
1440 Best Levant morocco, yapped, limp, kid-lined with indiarubber, the
"Bagster Binding," edges red under gilt in the round .... 50/-
INDIA PAPER EDITION.
Wilh Appendix.
1402* French seal, yapped, round corners, gilt edges, elastic band . . . 18/-
1415* Persian morocco, yapped, leather-lined, round corners, gilt edges . . 23/-
1421* Turkey morocco, limp, round corners, red under gilt edges, gilt roll . . 26/-
1430* Turkey-Levant, yapped, leather-lined, round corners, gilt edges . . . 30/-
1435* Levant morocco, yapped, calf-lined, round corners, red round gilt edges,
silk sewn, elastic band 36/-
1440* Best Levant morocco, yapped, limp, kid-lined with indiarubber, the
" Bagster Binding," edges red under gilt in the round .... 52/6
With Scotch Psalms, extra, i/-
Bagster's Bible Catalogue.
EMBEALD QUARTO. " REFERENCES,'
(gj X 6| X lyV inches.)
With Wide Margin for MS. Notes.
Qod^s covenant with. Noah. GENESIS,
10 And» with every living creature -B- C. 2348.
that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle,
and of every beaat of the earth with you ;
from all that go out of the ark, to every
beast of the earth :
U And I win establish my covenant
with you; neither shall all tlesh be cut
off any more by the waters of a flood :
neither shall there any more be a'' flood
to destroy the earth.
13 And God said. This is the tokenc of
a chap. 8. 1.
Pa. 145. 9.
6Je. 2. 10.
Zep. 2. 11.
c Pa. 72. 10.
rf2Pe. 3. 7.
eMi. 5. 6. •
/Ml. 7. 2. •
i? chap. 17. 11.
X. The generations of Noah.
5 By these were the isles' of the Gen-
tiles divided in their lands j every one
after his tongue, after their famflies, in
their nations.
6 And the sons of Ham ; Cush, and
Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
7 And the sons of Cush; Seba," and Ha-
Tilah,andSabtalLandRaamah,andlSabteohah;
and the sons of Eaamahj Sheba and Dedan.
8 And Cush begat Nimrod:« he began
to be a mighty one in the earth :
915 Persian morocco, yapped, leather-lined, round corners, gilt edges . . . 22/6
921 Turkey morocco, limp, red under gilt edges, gold roll ..... 27/-
935 Levant morocco, yapped, limp, calf-lined, red under gilt edges, round corners 37/6
940 Best Levant morocco, yapped, limp, kid-lined with indiarubber, the
" Bagster Binding," edges red under gilt in the round .... 50/-
With Scotch Psalms, extra, i/-; with Cruden's Concordance, extra, 5/-
RUBY QUARTO. "REFERENCES.
(7I X 5f X 1 1 inches.)
With Wide Margin for MS. Notes.
Ood^B covenant wUk Noah. Q
10 And"* with every living creature
that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle,
and of every beast of the earth with you;
from all that go out of the ark, to every
beaat of tho earth:
11 And I will establish my covenant
with you; neither shall all flesh be cut
off any more by the waters of a floor! :
neither shall there any more be a t? iloou
to destroy the earth.
12 And God said, This w tho token of
the covenant which 1 make between mc
and you, and every hving creatm-e that
X.
The generations of .Noah.
5 By these were the islea^ of the Gen«
tiles divided in their landa ; every Quo
after his tongue, after their families, ia
their nations.
6 And the sons of Ham ; Cuah, and
Mizraim, and Phut, and Caiuian.
7 And the aons of Cush; Seba,"^ and Ha-
vilah. and Sabtah, and Raamah, and S.ib-
tcchah; and the aons of Kaamah; Sheta
and Dedan.
8 And Cush bcg.it Nimrod,* ho bcgaa
to be a mighty one in the earth :
9 Ho was a miglity huuLcr/ bcforo th6
looi Paste grain, gilt edges . . 12/6
1021 Turkey morocco, limp, red under gilt edges, gold roll ..... 18/-
1035 Levant morocco, yapped, limp, calf-lined, red under gilt edges, round corners 26/6
1040 Best Levant morocco, yapped, limp, kid-lined with indiarubber, the
" Bagster Binding," edges red under gilt in the round . . . 31^*6
With Scotch Psalms, extra, -/8
iiNiil M t>|tii M ifhi | i*h M tliili» . "i> "M it ll i . »il B " MMW ! MJ i J ^iWWWW<H»>WBP^
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